Loading...
Physicians often order contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) to evaluate patients with suspected acute colonic diverticulitis, but studies suggest that intravenous contrast is unnecessary for this purpose. These researchers studied 110 consecutive patients with acute or subacute left-lower abdominal pain and suspected diverticulitis. Each patient underwent both low-dose unenhanced multidetector-row CT and standard-dose contrast-enhanced multidetector-row CT. Final diagnoses were based on clinical follow-up, surgical findings, and response to treatment.
Thirty-nine patients were ultimately diagnosed with diverticulitis. The interpretations of two radiologists were 100% sensitive and 99% specific with both low-dose unenhanced CT and stand…