“Open Your Mouth and Stick out Your Tongue:” Revisiting Static and Dynamic Maneuvers in Head and Neck CT

The head and neck region has a complex anatomy, making assessing lesion extension challenging. Current CT technology has not been able to overcome these challenges. Both static and dynamic maneuvers have been developed to better evaluate some areas where mucosal apposition prevents appropriate lesion characterization. Static maneuvers do not require modification of the breathing pattern and can be performed during quiet breathing acquisition. Dynamic maneuvers require an extra acquisition, with increased radiation exposure; thus, patients and scanning areas should be carefully selected. The purpose of this article is to describe these maneuvers, how to perform them, and their clinical application.

Learning Objective: To describe useful dynamic and static maneuvers in head and neck diagnostic imaging and recognize the structures that may be better assessed by performing them