Purpose or Case Report: Pediatric head CT examinations remain a mainstay imaging modality, frequently utilized to evaluate a wide spectrum of pediatric pathology. Current pediatric head CT protocols aim to use the least amount of radiation while providing imaging of diagnostic quality. Lower radiation doses, along with other factors, can occasionally cause CT artifacts that can affect the quality and the interpretation of images.
In this exhibit, we review examples of physics-based, patient-based and scanner-based CT artifacts on head CT exams, while also providing a brief explanation of the underlying physics and ways to mitigate the artifact. Imaging examples include among others: apparent posterior fossa masses due to beam hardening, apparent extra-axial fluid collections due to cupping artifact, apparent brain parenchymal hypodensities concerning for infarct, and apparent beading of intracranial vessels due to lower radiation doses administered.
Awareness of these artifacts is critical for radiologists, as they can potentially lead to misdiagnosis.
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