The First CT Scan of the Brain: Entering the Neurologic Information Age

Computed tomography (CT) scan of the brain transitioned clinical neurology from the educated-guess world to the real computer-age world. One of the first CT scans—published by the British neuroradiologist James Ambrose—showed an intracranial hemorrhage and also suggested the use of iodine to demonstrate abnormal blood-brain barrier. In the USA, CT scans were rapidly commercialized and first placed at Mayo Clinic and Massachusetts General Hospital in the summer of 1973. CT scanning of the brain has revolutionized diagnostic acute neurology and neurosurgery and was the overture to an even larger revolution—magnetic resonance imaging. This historical vignette discusses the development of CT scanning of the brain and its connection with neurocritical care.