A CT or CAT scan is the informal name for computerized tomography, which combines many X-ray images from different angles into a cross-sectional or even 3-D image of the body, according to MayoClinic.com. This computer-enhanced image provides far...
Cardiac scans can be performed using computed tomography (CT), a common test that makes use of x-rays to take pictures of the heart. Different types of cardiac CT scans are used to detect varying problems with the heart, including blood clots or...
Diagnostic imaging in the medical field has many tools, and one of them is the CT scan. The letters CT stand for computed tomography. CT scans work in a way that is similar to x-ray scans, the kind that produce images of cavities in teeth. CT...
Computed tomography (CT) is a non-invasive procedure that uses x-rays to create images of organs or blood vessels inside the body. The CT scanner machine creates 2-D image "slices" of the body. A computer then combines the 2-D images to create...
Ganglioneuroblastoma is often identified when a parent or child recognizes a hard mass in the child's abdomen, though the cancerous tumors are capable of growing elsewhere in the body. When they are located on the face or head, there will usually...
Facet rhizotomy is a type of relatively non-invasive spinal procedure designed to help reduce pain caused by facet joint damage or degenerative bone conditions that cause the facet joints (the bony knobs on the dorsal or outside of the spine) to...
Migraines are a form of severe headache with pain that can last anywhere from several hours to several days. Migraines appear to come out of nowhere; however, there is usually an onset warning such as seeing a flash of light, called auras, or...
According to the American Cancer Society, the first step in diagnosing suspected skin cancer is a visual examination of the patient. Skin cancer typically begins as a change of color, size or texture of a freckle, mole or other spot of skin that...
A computerized tomography scan---known as a CT or CAT scan---is an upgraded version of an X-ray combined with computer technology. The result is a clearer, more-detailed view of the inside the body. CT scans can produce pictures of an individual's...
Foraminal stenosis refers to a debilitating condition where your spinal cord nerve roots (fibers that innervate your muscles and organs) become compressed within your vertebrate (back bones). According to Dr. Ashvin I. Patel, the vertebrate (bones...
A coronary calcium scan, more widely known as a heart scan, is a test that uses computerized tomography, or CT, to produce images of your heart and surrounding coronary arteries. The test measures the amount of calcium deposits and will render a...
Computed tomography (CT) is a non-invasive diagnostic tool in which a source producing x-rays and an x-ray detector are rotated around a person. According to Merck Manuals, an online medical library, CT scanners have 4 to 64, or even more, rows of...
Cerebral palsy is a condition caused by abnormalities in the brain that affect movement, posture and balance. Cerebral palsy is a birth defect that usually is diagnosed by the time children are three years old. According to the March of Dimes,...
Trilogy is a radiation machine that offers multi-treatment functionality and image-guided technology in one machine. According to the Cancer Treatment Centers of America, the Trilogy system allows radiation oncologists to track the movement of a...
It has been estimated that as many as 75 percent of women have uterine fibroids at some point in their lives. Many women will never know they have them, however, because they do not always cause symptoms. When they do, the symptoms can vary...
The health of the heart and the blood vessels attached to it are vital to the body's overall health. When a doctor examines a patient who is having symptoms that may indicate a problem with the heart, such as shortness of breath and chest pain,...
The Johns Hopkins Heart and Vascular Institute reports that 95 percent of all abdominal aortic aneurysms (also referred to as "triple A" or AAA) are caused by atherosclerosis (fatty plaque build up in blood vessels). Symptoms of the disorder are...
A memorable movie line is from the Arnold Schwarzenegger film "Kindergarten Cop", when Schwarzenegger's character complains of a headache and one child suggests he has a tumor. Schwarzenegger replies, "It's not a tumor!" Had the character been...
Lung cancer does not play favorites. It finds its victims among men and women, smokers and non-smokers, young and old. It also wreaks havoc on more than just the lungs. Lung cancer---especially when it has metastasized---affects a myriad of body...
According to the World Health Organization, lung cancer kills more than a million people in the world each year. There are two major types of lung cancers, categorized according to the size of the lung cancer cell: small-cell lung cancer and...
More individuals fall victim to lung cancer every year than to any other form of the disease. Less than 50 percent of those who are diagnosed survive the first year and less than 5 percent have a five-year survival rate if their cancer has...
Headaches caused by anger can occur for different reasons. Many people experience some sort of headache when they become angry enough about something. Coming up with a remedy that works for you and addresses both the anger and the headache is very...
A herniated disc occurs when the tissue that pads the vertebrae begins to bulge or poke outside of the vertebrae and causes excess pressure on the nerves in the spine. It's a common injury that can cause pain in the legs, arms, low back or neck,...
Bladder retention, also known as urinary retention, is a condition where you are unable to empty your bladder. According to the National Kidney and Urologic Disease Information Clearinghouse (NKUDIC), anyone can experience urinary retention, but...
Cryoablation or cryotherapy is a minimally invasive treatment used to treat solid tumors---both cancerous and non-cancerous---in the lung, liver, breast, kidney, prostate and cervix. The cryoablation procedure involves freezing diseased tissue to...
Some illnesses can heal on their own---but that's not the case with meningitis. This infection, which can be caused by a bacteria, virus, fungus or other factors like cancer or an allergic reaction to medications, can be fatal without the proper...
Asbestos is a type of mineral that can be made into durable fibers. Because of its durability, asbestos was once used in fireproofing, roofing, and making paints and plastic. In the past decades, asbestos began gaining attention for the negative...
Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that originates from the connective tissue that surrounds the lungs and organs in the abdomen. This type of cancer is commonly linked to asbestos exposure. Mesothelioma can affect the tissue around the lungs, the...
Radiation can disrupt both healthy and cancerous cell growth. The reason you wear a lead vest and the dental hygienist steps out of the room when she gives your teeth an x-ray is because too much radiation on your body can have negative effects....
