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AJNR - American Journal of Neuroradiology

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American Journal of Neuroradiology 25:859-862, May 2004
© 2004 American Society of Neuroradiology

SPINE

Swimmer’s CT: Improved Imaging of the Lower Neck and Thoracic Inlet

Arthur G. Kane^a, Kevin C. Reilly^a and Thomas F. Murphy^a

^a From the Department of Radiology, Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, HI

Address correspondence to Arthur G. Kane, MD, Department of Radiology, Neuroradiology Section, Tripler, Army Medical Center, Honolulu, HI 96859

Summary: CT findings of the base of the neck are often degraded by beam-hardening artifact from the shoulder girdle. This artifact can be reduced by placing the patient in a "swimmer’s" position, a supine position in which the patient has one arm fully abducted and the other arm lowered. We selectively employed swimmer’s CT in patients between January 1999 and December 2002 when standard (arms-down) CT failed to depict suspected disease. In nine of 10 patients, swimmer’s CT improved CT quality or accuracy or both over that obtained when the standard CT position was used.

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