Paediatric Imaging

Abstract

Advances in imaging have been so dramatic in recent years that it is hard to believe that it is less than a decade since imaging with ultrasound and computed tomography (CT) were introduced for routine assessment of cancer. Isotope scanning has been well established since the 1960s but even in this field improvements in technology and the development of new pharmaceutical agents have widened its scope and accuracy considerably. Before the “imaging era” conventional radiology was the key investigation in the diagnosis and staging of paediatric tumours, the radiological procedures ranging from a plain chest or skull film to sophisticated techniques such as pneumoencephalography and angiography. Today the noninvasive imaging techniques have replaced many of these radiological procedures, but conventional radiology still has a well-defined role and is the initial examination of choice in the diagnosis of several solid tumours. In this chapter the relative roles of CT, ultrasound and nuclear medicine are discussed with reference to standard radiology where applicable.