Faculty Bibliography

A broad spectrum of skin and subcutaneous (SQ) findings may be discovered in the emergency setting on CT examinations. There are some findings that are directly relevant to the reason or reasons why the patient has undergone the CT examination. However, other findings may be incidental. The skin and SQ tissues are by definition on the periphery of CT images and may be overlooked by the radiologist, although findings related to them can be of clinical importance. The purpose of this pictorial essay is to present a broad spectrum of skin and subcutaneous findings which may be identified on CT examinations in the emergency setting (and in some cases nonemergently), and to briefly review the relevant imaging literature, which surprisingly is relatively limited on this topic. Categories of cutaneous and subcutaneous abnormalities that will be covered include trauma and hemorrhage, iatrogenic findings, infection, neoplasms, calcification, and other miscellaneous entities, all of which may initially present on emergency CT examinations of the body.

Cesarean scar pregnancies (CSPs) are a relatively rare form of ectopic pregnancy in which the embryo is implanted within the fibrous scar of a previous cesarean section. A greater number of cases of CSPs are currently being reported as the rates of cesarean section are increasing globally and as detection of scar pregnancy has improved with use of transvaginal ultrasound (TVUS) with color Doppler imaging. Delayed diagnosis and management of this potentially life-threatening condition may result in complications, predominantly uterine rupture and hemorrhage with significant potential maternal morbidity. Diagnosis of a cesarean scar pregnancy (CSP) requires a high index of clinical suspicion, as up to 40% of patients may be asymptomatic. TVUS has a reported sensitivity of 84.6% and has become the imaging examination of choice for diagnosis of a CSP. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used in a small number of patients as an adjunct to TVUS. In the present report, MRI is highlighted as a problem-solving tool capable of more precisely identifying the relationship of a CSP to adjacent structures, thereby providing additional information critical to directing appropriate patient management and therapy.