The development of multisection or multidetector row computed tomography (CT) has prompted CT to regain its place as the most exciting technique in body imaging, a position lost to magnetic resonance imaging since the mid-1980s.
The Radiological Society of North America recognized the importance of multisection CT in body imaging, dedicating a special focus session to this topic at the 2000 annual meeting. I was given the opportunity to moderate this session on the applications of multisection CT in the chest and abdomen. The following article by W. Dennis Foley, MD, discusses the applications of multisection CT in the major abdominal viscera. Other topics discussed during the special focus session (vascular and chest applications) are not included to keep the focus in the abdomen. The following comments provide a foundation for Dr Foley�s article emphasizing the possibilities of multisection CT in the abdomen.