Paediatric imaging manual

Children and adolescents are not simply small adults; they suffer from different diseases and require different treatments. The same is true where imaging is concerned. The diagnostic strategies - using identical diagnostic instruments - are different; the care prior to, during, and following the examination differs from that of adults. For this reason, there exists in many countries a specialized line of advanced training for pediatric radiology. The aim of this book, therefore, is to provide readily available information, limited to what is essential, for physicians doing advanced training in radiology and pediatrics and for advanced students concerning the most important aspects of imaging in newborns, children, and adolescents. The diagnostic strategies used for children differ from those used for adults in many respects. One of the most important aspects is radiation protection, as children are particularly sensitive to ionizing radiation and with their longer life expectancy, can also expect to accumulate a higher dose from natural and artificial - above all medical - causes. The latter increase the individual risk (malignant disease) as well as the genetic risk. The best radiation protection is the avoidance of an examination employing ionizing radiation (X-rays, CT scan) and, on the other hand, if possible, by substituting ultrasonography or magnetic resonance imaging for X-rays or computer tomography. Without them, modern medicine, in particular emergency medicine, would be unthinkable. Thus it is not a matter of preventing the application of ionizing radiation, but of its responsible use where necessary and of substitution with non-ionizing radiation where possible. The ALARA principle states: ''as low as reasonably achievable'', in other words, the lowest dose possible and the largest necessary