Brachial plexus: anatomic, radiologic, and pathologic correlation using computed tomography.

Computed tomographic (CT) anatomy of the normal brachial plexus was analyzed in 50 patients with nonneurologic disease. Identification of anatomic structures on the CT images was facilitated by comparison with cadaver cross sections. Ten patients with clinical brachial plexopathy were also examined. Of these 10 patients, 7 demonstrated lesions of the brachial plexus. Computed tomographic examination of the brachial plexus is useful in detecting mass lesions of the plexus and may allow earlier diagnosis and specific therapy. Whether CT will be reliable in distinguishing idiopathic brachial plexopathy from the plexopathy associated with pathological lesions awaits further study.