[Spiral CT of the diaphragm]

The diaphragm is a thin musculotendinous structure, which is not or only partially visible with the conventionally used imaging techniques (chest X-ray, ultrasonography, contrast bowel examination, incremental CT). Spiral CT may offer new perspectives to overcome the above mentioned problem. Volumetric data acquisition can be achieved during one apnoea period, which allows to eliminate all respiratory induced artifacts. Reformatting of the axial reconstructed CT data allows furthermore to study the diaphragm in any desired plane. Especially the coronal and sagittal planes are well suited to study the relationship of peridiaphragmatic pathology to the diaphragm. The major limitation of spiral CT is the inability to recognize the diaphragm as a separate structure if the diaphragm is adjacent to another structure with an analogous density such as the liver or the spleen.