Helical computerized tomography of the abdomen: Indications and spectrum of findings in a tertiary health center

Abstract

Background: Helical computerized tomography (CT) has shown improved sensitivity and clinical utility as a diagnostic tool in the evaluation of patients presenting to the hospital with various abdominal conditions. This study assessed the various indications for this diagnostic tool and the CT findings in a tertiary health center. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in the Department of Radiology of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto. Abdominal helical CT scans of patients referred to the department from the various clinical departments as well as the neighboring tertiary health centers were reviewed retrospectively. All the patients were scanned on Neusoft/Phillips C-3000 helical CT in the department following standard protocols for abdominal CT examinations. The patient demographics, clinical indications for the CT examination, CT findings, and provisional diagnoses were evaluated. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 17.0. Results: Thirty-five patients aged 1 to 78 years (mean ± SD; 46.6 ± 18.4) and made of 18 males and 17 females were studied. The most frequent indication for abdominal CT was in the 46-60 age group representing 34.3%, while the least number of indications were in the 1-15 and above 75-year age groups each constituting 8.6% and 5.7%, respectively. Suspected abdominal mass was the commonest indication constituting 28.6%, while further evaluation of known renal mass constituted 20% of the cases. Pancreatic, appendiceal, and bladder masses were among the commonest findings with prevalence of 20.3%, 8.7%, and 8.6%, respectively. Conclusions: Abdominal mass was the commonest indication for helical CT of the abdomen in this study, while pancreatic mass represented the commonest finding among the patients studied.

Keywords

• Abdomen
• computerized tomography
• findings
• helical
• indications