Spiral CT of the thorax

Spiral CT represents a major advance in CT technology. While the patient is advanced through the scanner gantry, continuous data acquisition occurs during suspended respiration eliminating many of the limitations associated with conventional thoracic CT. By eliminating respiratory misregistration and by offering the ability to reconstruct overlapping images at small intervals, spiral CT is advantageous for pulmonary nodule detection. Airway pathology and lesions adjacent to the diaphragm are better visualized with spiral CT and can be displayed in multiplanar or three-dimensional formats. Vascular imaging, including pulmonary embolus detection, is improved by spiral CT because scanning occurs rapidly at the peak of vascular enhancement.