Preliminary report of a new method of whole body CT-scanning.

The authors suggest a new approach to CT-body examination derived from their experience in spinal investigations. They introduce a method of gantry tilt in association with inclination of the patient, and call the new mode "longitudino-axial sectioning". This method makes possible the simultaneous display of several vertebral levels, which is not possible with conventional CT-scanning. They suggest that by extrapolation, the method may be applied to thoracic and abdominal investigations, as well as to the study of joints. In addition, this technique could be the method of choice whenever urinary and biliary tracts have to be investigated for diagnostic and/or interventional purposes.