Comet tail artifact
Last revised by Daniel J Bell ◉ on 29 Nov 2021
Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
Citation:
Gaillard F, Bell D, Foster T, et al. Comet tail artifact. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 29 Sep 2023) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-9930
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rID:
9930
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Disclosures:
At the time the article was created Frank Gaillard had no recorded disclosures.
View Frank Gaillard's current disclosuresLast revised:
29 Nov 2021, Daniel J Bell ◉
Disclosures:
At the time the article was last revised Daniel J Bell had no recorded disclosures.
View Daniel J Bell's current disclosuresRevisions:
25 times, by 11 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures
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Synonyms:
- Comet tail artefact
- Comet tail artifact
- Comet tail
- Comet tails
The comet tail artifact is a grey scale ultrasound finding seen when small calcific / crystalline / highly reflective objects are interrogated and is believed to be a special form of reverberation artifact.
It is similar to the color comet tail artifact and is seen in similar situations, although is in general less sensitive than the latter.
- small renal or ureteric calculi
- small common bile duct stones
- adenomyomatosis of the gallbladder
- pancreatic calcifications of chronic pancreatitis
- testicular microlithiasis (sometimes)
- thyroid colloid nodules
- identification of foreign bodies
Differential diagnosis
Possible considerations include:
See also
Quiz questions
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References
- 1. Tchelepi H, Ralls PW. Color comet-tail artifact: clinical applications. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2009;192 (1): 11-8. doi:10.2214/AJR.07.3893 - Pubmed citation
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