Limitations and pitfalls of computed tomography in the evaluation of craniocerebral injury.

The deficiencies of cranial computed tomography in the evaluation of craniocerebral injury may be categorized as: problems with the patient (cervical spine injury, motion artifact, airway control, head tilt, metallic foreign bodies); the incomplete scan; failure to determine the attenuation coefficient; failure to perform contrast enhancement; and failure to perform cerebral angiography. Increased awareness of these shortcomings of computed tomography and the selected use of cerebral angiography will ensure more accurate detection of the various abnormalities encountered in traumatic pathology.