[Advances in diagnosis and their significance for radiological practice]

Many changes have taken place in x-ray diagnosis from the early introductory days of tomography and the introduction and development of the image intensifier. Ultrasound marked a big step forward. There are now about 12 000 ultrasound units in the FRG. In general practice, ultrasound is mainly used for screening examinations of the abdominal organs, whereas in hospitals special examinations are of great importance, such as neonatal skull, thyroid gland, mammary gland, scrotal sonography, and the valuation of blunt traumas. In nuclear medicine, an important advance was the application of spect in the diagnosis and localisation of disturbances of regional myocardial perfusion in coronary heart disease. In the last years CT has revolutionised radiology. In the FRG, the number of CT units, and all kinds of CT investigations in hospitals and in general practice, have been increasing rapidly. In 1983, there were 361 CT scanners in the FRG. The interdisciplinary character of radiology emerges especially in those areas which are known as interventional radiology. The most important methods are percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography, puncture and drainage of abscesses, extraction of intraluminal foreign bodies, as well as therapeutical occlusion of vessels. Digital subtraction angiography is a new imaging method which is now available at all major departments in Western Germany. The method is well established by transvenous contrast medium injection for examination of the carotids, the renal arteries, the aorta, and the larger vessels of the extremities. Another new imaging method, magnetic resonance, has produced excitement in medical imaging.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)