CT skull base & calvarium normal variant pitfalls

Intended learning outcomes - To recognise the varied neurological appearances of skull based normal variants with the brain. Highlighting the importance of differentiation of normal and variant anatomy from the pitfalls of misdiagnosing a pathological condition Content of Presentation -Pictorial review of 12 common examples of neuroradiological normal variant conditions of skull base and calvarium anatomical areas of the brain, including sutures, asymmetry of bones, benign growths, thickenng, dilation of diploic channels and sinuses Relevance -There are an increase of radiographers taking up CT Head Reporting courses throughout the country due to the increased workload of CT departments and NHS funding of stroke units in district general hospitals Oucomes - To increase reporting radiographers and CT radiographers knowledge and CPD learning of cerebral anatomy and variants Discussion - The differentiation of a normal anatomical variant tends to come from experienced recognition of established patterns of variation from either empirical visual assessment or evidence based reesearch material that allow the reduction of false-positive findings and reduce unnecessary additional diagnostic imaging