Anderson K R, Smith R C
Department of Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510, USA.
J Endourol. 2001 Feb;15(1):25-9. doi: 10.1089/08927790150500917.
Unenhanced helical CT allows rapid and accurate determination of whether a stone is present anywhere in the urinary tract. There is a learning curve for both radiologist and urologist, but a number of signs are highly predictive of stone. Helical CT scans should always be accompanied by a "scoutogram" to convey an idea of what the stone might look like. The scan requires no contrast medium and takes only 5 to 10 minutes of imaging time, making it cost effective. It behooves both urologists and radiologists to familiarize themselves with the techniques for reading these scans.
