Medical Implications of Computed Tomography (“CAT Scanning”)

THE introduction of computed tomography (CT) has stimulated the interest of both the medical profession and the nonmedical public. Its importance to physicians in the evaluation of patients with brain disease was rapidly established: neurologists and neurosurgeons who had CT available soon found that their method of practice was markedly changed. As medical enthusiasm mounted, however, public resistance to this expensive new technology became apparent, particularly among those responsible for funding health care. Recent papers have dealt with the distribution and planning of CT,1 cost implications1 2 3 4 and quantitative limitations of the information base associated with its rapid diffusion.4 The implications . . .