Background and objective: Multidetector CT (MDCT) and ultrasonography (US) are of increasing importance for assessment of many pulmonary disorders. Our aim was to evaluate their role in diagnosis of pleural diseases.Methods: Patients from Tanta University Hospital who were suspected to have pleural lesions (symptoms, signs and/or suggestive chest X-ray) during one year period were enrolled in the study. US and MDCT were done for all of them, then data were reported and analyzed.Results: Seventy-one patients were included, sixty of them had evident pleural lesions. Chest pain was the commonest presenting symptom. Malignancy represented 36.7% of pleural lesions, a percentage similar to lesions due to infection etiology. Free pleural effusions were the most common pleural lesions followed by pleural thickening. US was diagnostic in 72% of pleural lesions detectable by MDCT. Multiplanar reconstruction (MPR) images had an additional value than axial images in 39% of pleural lesions, mostly in cases of pleural thickening, free pleural effusion, pleural masses, encysted pleural effusions and pleural plaques. On the other hand, the MPR images had the same value as axial images in empyema and pneumothorax cases.Conclusion: MDCT is an important noninvasive imaging tool in accurate detection and characterization of pleural lesions with complementary MPR images that solve many diagnostic problems. Ultrasonography is a safer alternative but with less diagnostic value.
Background and purpose: Chest trauma is a significant cause of mortality and morbidity, especially in the younger population. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) in the assessment of patients with blunt chest trauma. Patients and methods: A prospective study was conducted on thirty (30) patients with blunt chest trauma (21 males and 9 females, aged from 6 to 62 years) and 29 control patients presented with any trauma other than blunt chest trauma (23 males and 6 females, aged from 10 to 68 years) at the Emergency Department, Tanta University Hospital, from January 2013 to February 2014. Cases were subjected to clinical evaluation and radiological assessment of the chest using conventional chest X-ray (CXR) and multi-detector computed tomography. Results: The most common mode of injury was motor vehicle accidents (56.7%). On MDCT scan, the frequency of chest injuries were; chest wall injuries (86.7%), pleural injuries (80%), parenchymal injuries (56.7%), mediastinal injuries (30%) and finally the dorsal spine injuries (16.7%). MDCT is more sensitive, specific, and accurate than CXR in the assessment of blunt chest trauma and management of patients. Conclusion: MDCT is the modality of choice for rapid assessment of emergency chest trauma patients, when chest X-ray was inconclusive.
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