[Diagnostic value of cranial computerized tomography in pediatric practice]

A total of 100 clinical records have been studied to as certain the diagnostic use of brain CT. Most frequent diagnoses are: hypoxic-ischemic encephalopaty, seizure disorders, psychomotor delay, head enlargement and trauma. The first years of life was the period with a higher frequency of applications and the greater percentage of pathologic results (75-80 por 100) was found among intracranial hypertension, fetal distress, macrocephaly or infections of Central Nervous System and their sequelae. Minus than 50 por 100 of CT scans requested for seizures, psychomotor delay and trauma demonstrated true abnormal findings. Nearly half (53 por 100) of exams were pathological and 87 por 100 of them were useful to confirm or complete the diagnosis. It is possible to predict an increase in the number of examinations to perform in the future, although it many be replaced by alternative techniques.