From the Department of Radiology, Division of Neuroradiology,a and Division of Musculoskeletal Imaging,b Indiana University School of Medicine. Reprint requests: Karen S. Caldemeyer, MD, Indiana University School of Medicine, University Hospital, Room 0279, 550 N University Blvd, Indianapolis, IN 46202-5253. J Am Acad Dermatol 1999;41:768-71. Copyright © 1999 by the American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. 0190-9622/99/$8.00 + 0 16/1/98499 C omputed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are the most widely used cross-sectional imaging methods used in medicine. CT was a revolutionary development of the 1970s. The term computed tomography derives from computed (with computer), tomo (to cut), and graph(y) (pictures). CT uses ionizing radiation, or x-rays, coupled with an electronic detector array to record a pattern of densities and create an image of a “slice” or “cut” of tissue. The x-ray beam rotates around the object within the scanner such that multiple x-ray projections pass through the object (Fig 1). The internal structure of the object can then be reconstructed from the multiple projections of that object.1 As x-rays pass through the patient, they are attenuated. The amount of attenuation depends on the type of tissue through which the x-ray beam passes. X-ray imaging contrast is generated as a consequence of differences in attenuation between adjacent tissues. The higher the attenuation of the x-ray beam, the brighter the tissue on CT images, and the lower the attenuation, the darker the tissue on CT images. Therefore bone and calcification that significantly attenuate the x-ray beam are white. Fat, being rich in carbon, is more transparent than water containing oxygen, which attenuates x-rays to a greater degree.1 Therefore fat is blacker than water on CT. Air causes little attenuation of x-rays and is very black (Figs 2 and 3). Regional or focal deviations from the normal CT appearance will be