Pediatric body CT

Pediatric body CT began in earnest in 1976 when for the first time a body CT machine was installed in a pediatric institution, the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. The first images were received with great enthusiasm. More recently, newer equipment with faster scan times and better resolution has enabled us to delineate disease processes with even greater accuracy. In the past 9 years we have performed more than 5000 body scans in children. With this experience our examination techniques have changed and the indications for CT in children have been modified. CT has come to occupy an important and specific place in the management of pediatric patients. The performance of body CT studies in children is not always easy. Excellent diagnostic studies can be obtained only with a special understanding of the problems of pediatric patients and pediatric pathology. The information contained herein is a review of our experience with pediatric body CT, how we use body CT in children, and its relationship to other modalities in this department.