Technique for cranial CT scanning of excessively obese patients.

Received June 28, 1988; accepted August 14, 1988. metal suspension device, can be lifted or lowered by means of a hand crank that controls the elevation of the frame. In the CT suite, the patient is placed supine on a plastic spinal buckboardl A single sling is positioned underneath the buckboard at the level of the patient's thighs. The sling is then connected to two Hoyer lifts, one on each side of the CT table (Fig. 1 ). The legs of the lifts are anchored with approximately 40 lb. (18 kg) of weight to stabilize them. The lifts are then cranked up approximately 3 em to reduce the patient's weight on the table. We have found that by positioning the sling at thigh level, the patient and sling will move freely with the table, permitting accurate scanning at 1 0-mm slice intervals. The Hoyer lifts themselves remain stationary. Using this method we performed three studies on two patients , one 350 lb. (159 kg) and the other 329 lb. (149 kg). We obtained a scout image and approximately 12 1 0-mm contiguous axial slices. The time required for each procedure was similar to that for a standard cranial CT. All scans were performed on a GE 9800 unit.~ which has a weight limit of 320 lb. (145 kg) for head scanning. All studies were of high quality and eminently diagnostic.