The role of “conventional” computed tomography is in decline and has been superseded by spiral scanning, which is faster and less sensitive to artefacts such as movement or breathing. Garvey and Hanlon (p 1077) explain the different types of scanners and their uses in this week's clinical review. Multislice scanning is better than spiral scanning but has important cost and storage implications. Concerns regarding the x ray dose of scanners may relegate computed tomography to a secondary role as availability of magnetic resonance imaging increases.
