Clinical Condition—Brachial Plexopathy
MRI, neck, and/or chest, and/or upper extremity | CT, neck, and/or chest, and/or upper extremity | X-ray, chest | X-ray, cervical spine | FDG-PET, whole body | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Without and with contrast | Without contrast | Without and with contrast | Without contrast | ||||
Sudden onset | 8a | 7a | 5a | 4a | 3 | 3 | 1 |
Chronic | 8a | 7a | 5a | 4a | 3 | 4 | 2b |
Post-traumatic, nonacute* | 8a | 7a | 4a | 5a | 3 | 3 | 1 |
Cancer patient; no history of local radiation therapy | 8a | 7a | 5a | 4a | 4 | 3 | 7c |
Cancer patient; post-radiation therapy | 8a | 7a | 5a | 4a | 4 | 3 | 7d |
Note:—Appropriateness criteria scale from 1 to 9; 1, least appropriate; 9, most appropriate.
* CT myelography, cervical and/or thoracic spine = rating of 6, X-ray, myelography, cervical and/or thoracic spine = rating of 5 and usually performed with CT.
a One or more anatomically contiguous studies may be appropriate depending on clinical circumstances.
b May be appropriate if malignancy suspected.
c May be useful for staging and characterizing local lesion.
d Best imaging tool to distinguish between tumor recurrence and radiation plexopathy.