How can you tell on a CT scan if you are looking from the top or bottom?

[shigella123]

I can't tell if we are looking from caudal or cranial view on this CT scan I found online. How can you tell? I have a similar CT scan question on Uworld and I don't know how to tell if we are looking from caudal or cranial view.

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[link2swim06]

I can't tell if we are looking from top or bottom on this CT scan I found online. How can you tell? I have a similar CT scan question on Uworld and I don't know how to tell if we are looking from top or bottom.

Huh?

I don't understand your question.

By bottom do you mean caudal or dorsal?


On all CT's the patients left is on the right side of the screen. It's as though the patient is laying on their back and you are at their feet looking up towards their head.

Your above picture is of a thoracic CT looking at the vessels near the heart.

 

[shigella123]

On all CT's the patients left is on the right side of the screen. It's as though the patient is laying on their back and you are at their feet looking up towards their head?

Your above picture is of a thoracic CT looking at the vessels near the heart.

Sorry, I meant caudal or cranial view. Thanks for letting me know!

 

[SpecterGT260]

I can't tell if we are looking from caudal or cranial view on this CT scan I found online. How can you tell? I have a similar CT scan question on Uworld and I don't know how to tell if we are looking from caudal or cranial view.

All CTs are to be taken to be from the view of the patient's feet looking toward his or her head. I actually find this a little irritating because I always intuitively want to start at the head and work down. It really isn't that big of a deal though as there are usually landmarks that will help you out. The aorta is one of the ones I usually go for in chest or abdominal films. That will confirm your left/right pretty easily with rare exception, at which point the directionality of the view becomes more of an academic thing than anything actually useful.

 

[shigella123]

All CTs are to be taken to be from the view of the patient's feet looking toward his or her head. I actually find this a little irritating because I always intuitively want to start at the head and work down. It really isn't that big of a deal though as there are usually landmarks that will help you out. The aorta is one of the ones I usually go for in chest or abdominal films. That will confirm your left/right pretty easily with rare exception, at which point the directionality of the view becomes more of an academic thing than anything actually useful.

Thanks Specter for the information...