Thin-section oblique CT with 25 degrees cranially tilted images. Evaluation of pulmonary tumors adjacent to the interlobar fissures.

Abstract

Thin-section oblique CT with cranially tilted axial scans can provide better visualization of the interlobar fissures than thin-section CT with conventional axial scans. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of oblique CT scans for pulmonary tumors adjacent to the interlobar fissures. Cranially tilted and conventional axial images were obtained by thin-section CT in 10 patients with solitary pulmonary tumors adjacent to the interlobar fissures. Conventional CT with a 2-mm collimation and thin-section oblique CT with a 25 degrees cranial tilt were obtained. The images obtained by thin-section oblique scanning visualized the relationship between the pulmonary tumor and the interlobar fissures in all 10 patients, whereas in 6 patients the thin-section conventional images did not. The pulmonary tumors in these 6 patients included all 5 that were adjacent to the minor fissures. Thin-section oblique CT may be more useful than thin-section conventional CT in evaluating the relationship between pulmonary tumors and the minor fissures.