Assessment of the use of a saline chaser to reduce the volume of contrast medium in abdominal CT.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate, first, the effect on enhancement of the liver and aorta during abdominal CT of the use of saline solution as a partial substitute for or in addition to contrast medium when the dose of medium is determined by the patient's body weight and, second, whether use of a saline chaser allows a decrease in the dose of contrast medium to less than 1.5 mL/kg.

Subjects And Methods: We enrolled 407 patients undergoing abdominal exploration on MDCT, including an early arterial phase and a portal phase.

Pathologic conditions of the hypothenar eminence: evaluation with multidetector CT and MR imaging.

Pain, weakness, and sensory loss occur frequently in the hypothenar eminence. However, clinical examination is difficult and nonspecific, and the prescribed imaging technique may be inadequate, or images may be misinterpreted. Different imaging modalities have various degrees of usefulness for the diagnosis of painful pathologic conditions of the hypothenar eminence.