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811
TRAUMA/EMERGENCY RADIOLOGY
Michael J. Modica, MD • Kalpana M. Kanal, PhD, DABR • Martin L.
Gunn, MBChB, FRANZCR
The dramatic rise in the prevalence of obesity among children and
adults in the United States over the last several decades has brought
several new challenges to the delivery of healthcare. The increased uti-
lization of and dependence on imaging for accurate and timely diag-
nosis has placed the radiology department in a unique position in the
provision of care for the obese emergency patient. Radiology practices
must be cognizant of the imaging challenges presented by the obese
patient and adjust their imaging algorithms accordingly to optimize
all types of diagnostic studies. The article systematically reviews com-
mon pitfalls and offers methods to improve image quality when using
radiography, ultrasonography, and computed tomography to image the
obese patient population.
©
RSNA, 2011•radiographics.rsna.org
The Obese Emergency
Patient: Imaging Chal-
lenges and Solutions
1
CME FEATURE
See www.rsna
.org/education
/rg_cme.html
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
FOR TEST 5
After reading this
article and taking
the test, the reader
will be able to:
■ Explain the prin-
ciples of physics that
affect the quality of
US and radiography
in the obese emer-
gency patient.
■ Describe the
technical challenges
encountered when
performing CT in
the obese emer-
gency patient.
■ Identify the causes
of artifacts com-
monly seen at CT in
obese patients and
the ways of circum-
venting them.
Abbreviations: BMI = body mass index, CDC = Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, FOV = field of view, SNR = signal-to-noise ratio
RadioGraphics 2011;31:811–823•Published online10.1148/rg.313105138•Content Codes:
1
From the Department of Radiology, University of Washington, 325 Ninth Ave, Box 359728, Seattle, WA 98104-2499. Recipient of a Certificate
of Merit award for an education exhibit at the 2009 RSNA Annual Meeting. Received May 20, 2010; revision requested June 30 and final revision
received September 27; accepted September 28. For this CME activity, the authors, editors, and reviewers have no relevant relationships to disclose.
Address correspondence to M.L.G. (email: marting@u.washington.edu).
©
RSNA, 2011