CT Abdomen - Read Like A Radiologist

Systematic approach & normal anatomy

There are various ways to systematically assess a CT abdomen, and many radiologists use a fixed organ sequence. Regardless of which method you use, consistency is essential — a fixed approach prevents (important!) abnormalities from being missed. The risk of tunnel vision will also be smaller if a fully systematic CT assessment is carried out. 

In this module, a classification based on tracts and organ groups is used. This approach aligns with the clinical way of thinking central to medical education. Each group has its own color, which is applied later in the module to the scrollable CT stacks.
 

• GREEN: Hepatobiliary (liver, gallbladder, common bile duct) and solid organs (pancreas, spleen, adrenal glands)
• BLUE: Digestive tract — stomach, duodenum, small intestine (jejunum & ileum), ascending/transverse/descending colon, sigmoid, rectum, mesentery
• YELLOW: Urogenital tract — kidneys, ureters, bladder, prostate, uterus/adnexa
• RED: Circulatory tract — aorta, coeliac trunk, superior mesenteric artery, inferior vena cava, mesenteric vein, portal vein, splenic vein. 
• ORANGE:  Lymph nodes (mesenteric, para-aortic, iliac and inguinal)
• BLACK-and-WHITE: Soft tissue/skeleton/extra-abdominal - 

Assignment
Scroll through the CT stack below (fig. 6 & 7) and try to identify the structures by group. Use the color scheme as a guide for the order in which you look. Note, if desired, the slice level at which you see a structure most clearly. Then check your findings against the labeled CT stack on the next page.

Answers: see next page.