The Value of CT Scan in Diagnosis and Management of Malignant Lymphoma: A Clinical Practice-Oriented Overview

The impact of computed tomography (CT) scanning on the accurate diagnosis of malignant lymphoma (ML) and the assessment of the course of disease has rapidly improved over the last years. This is mainly due to the development of multi-slice CT (MSCT) with its unique utility to perform high-resolution full-body scans within a very short period of time. Its standardized sectional views permit excellent comparability to previously performed images with high inter-observer agreement. MSCT is the method of choice for the chest, abdominal and urinary tract regions which is also true with some restrictions to the head and neck region. In the musculoskeletal system the accuracy is lower when compared with magnetic resonance imaging. Among the variety of imaging technologies MSCT plays a central role for staging and restaging of ML with a major impact on therapeutic decisions.