What is spiral CT?
A spiral (or helical) CT scan is a new kind of CT. During a spiral CT, the x-ray machine rotates continuously around the body, following a spiral path to make cross-sectional pictures of the body. Benefits of spiral CT include: • It can be used to make 3–dimensional pictures of areas inside the body; • It may detect small abnormal areas better than conventional CT; and • It is faster, so the test takes less time than a conventional CT. • What is total or whole body CT? Should a person have one? A total or whole body CT scan creates images of nearly the entire body—from the chin to below the hips. This test has not been shown to have any value as a screening tool. (“Screening” means checking for signs of a disease when a person has no symptoms.) The American College of Radiology (as well as most doctors) does not recommend scanning a person’s body on the chance of finding signs of any sort of disease. In most cases abnormal findings do not indicate a serious health problem; however, a p
