Computed Tomography Diagnosis of Acute Appendicitis—Pictorial Essay

Aarthi Govindarajan, Bhawna Dev, Roy Santosham, Joseph Santhosh

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DOI: 10.4236/ss.2011.23022                

Abstract

Acute appendicitis is a common surgical emergency with varied clinical presentations. Early diagnosis is absolutely necessary to minimize morbidity whereas delayed or missed diagnosis can cause adverse consequences. Computed tomography is a highly accurate imaging technique for diagnosing appendicitis. Hence it plays a valuable role in selected patients with suspected appendicitis; [1]. In this essay, we review the normal Computed tomography anatomy of the appendix and the right lower quadrant and illustrate the Computed tomography signs of appendicitis and important differential diagnostic entities. The Computed tomography appearance of complications of acute appendicitis is also presented, as are issues concerning clinical presentation and duration of the symptoms. Computed tomography signs can be varied and overlooked as they say what is easy to see is also easy to miss.

Keywords

Acute Appendix, Multislice Computed Tomography

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

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