Report from ECR: Correct modality choice proves essential in head and neck trauma

March 9, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Report from ECR: Correct modality choice proves essential in head and neck trauma By Philip Ward CT and MRI have a vital part to play in cases of head and neck trauma, but it is important to know which modality to use under the clinical circumstances, according to speakers at Friday's opening session of the minicourse on major trauma. CT has high sensitivity for mass effects, ventricular configuration, bone injuries, and acute hemorrhage, and it is rapid, compatible with life-support equipment, and necessary for directing immediate neurosurgical intervention, said Dr. Ulrich Linsenmaier of the department of clinical radiology at Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, Germany. But it cannot detect small nonhemorrhagic lesions and is insensitive for diffuse axonal injury (DAI), increased intracranial pressure, edema, and ischemia.

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