Computerized axial tomography: clinicopathologic correlation.

Between August 1973 and April 1974 more than 750 patients had computerized axial tomography (CT) scans at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Ten brains from previously CT-scanned patients in this group were sectioned in the plane of the scan. Nearly exact correlation was found between the anatomic location and extent of intracranial lesions demonstrated by CT scan and the findings on gross and microscopic pathologic examination in cases of primary intracranial tumors, obstructive hydrocephalus, intracerebral hemorrhage, ischemic and hemorrhagic infarctions, pineal tumor, and thermal-burn encephalopathy. Determination of absorption values (mu) of 47 pathologically verified processes showed that high-absorption intracerebral hemorrhage and calcium-containing tumors are readily separable from other processes on the basis of mu values alone. However, the abnormal mu values of primary brain tumor, edema, and infarction are difficult to distinguish from those of normal spinal fluid and white matter.