[3D-CT highly useful in diagnosing foreign bodies in the paraesophageal orifice]

Multislice computed tomography (CT) enables rapid, easy construction of 3-dimensional CT images (3D-CT), aiding diagnostic imaging. 3D-CT is reported to be highly useful in diagnosing temporal bone disorders, in otorhinolaryngology, especially abnormal shape and the ossicular chain of the auditory ossicles and facial bone fractures. Given the complexity of laryngeal anatomy, 3D-CT is useful in diagnosing the extent of infiltration of laryngeal cancer and in examining vocal cord movement, which is difficult to evaluate by conventional CT, magnestic resonance imaging (MRI), and fiberscopy. Among patients seen for a suspected foreign body between June 2002 and May 2003, we chose 3 in whom laryngoscopy at the first examination could not detect a foreign body but in whom symptoms and findings suggested such presence in the paraesophageal orifice. In all 3 cases, 3D-CT imaging showed the size, length, location, and direction of the foreign body, providing information useful for the surgical approach.