Dados do Trabalho

Título

Blood Can Be Very Bad - The ABC of Emergency Head CT -

Introdução e objetivo(s)

The role of head CT in emergency situations is crucial as it helps identify and diagnose critical findings in a timely manner. To simplify the process and teach a logical and generalizable approach, the mnemonic “Blood Can Be Very Bad” was proposed many years ago.

The goal of this presentation is to demonstrate in an simple but didatic manner how to apply this mnemonic using real cases from our emergency department.

Método(s)

Blood Can Be Very Bad stands for:
- B(lood): bleeding - epidural, subdural, intraparenchymal. intraventricular, subarachnoid or extracranial hemorrhage.
- C(an): cisterns - asymmetry, blood, effacement in main cisterns such as Sylvian or suprasellar.
- B(e): Brain (parenchyma) - asymmetry, gray-white differentiation, midline shift, hypo/hyperdensities, pneumocephalus.
- V(ery): ventricles - intraventricular hemorrhage, ventricular effacement. shift, hydrocephalus.
- B(ad): bone - skull fracture; paranasal sinuses and mastoid air cells content; soft tisne swelling.

Discussão

Interpreting head CTs is challenging not only for radiology residents but also for emergency physicians and radiologists. Being able to correctly diagnose tumor-like lesions causing a midline shift or differentiate between ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke can be life saving.

Conclusões

With such a challenging and important task as evaluating head CT in emergency settings, this mnemonic was successfully created, with an approach involving a systematic search for the anatomic locations of the most common intracranial emergencies, not only abbreviating the time needed for analyzing exams but also saving patients' lives. It is important to remember that time is critical when it comes to brain injuries.

Palavras Chave

hemorrhage; brain CT; emergency

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