Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast)

This is a CT scan aimed at one small, bony region of the skull — the eye sockets, the pocket of bone that holds the pituitary gland, or the ear and the dense bone around it. It is done without injected contrast, so it is mainly a study of bone and shape rather than of blood flow.

This explanation has not been reviewed by a person yet.

What it is

These three regions — the orbits, the sella, and the ear — get grouped into one code because they are all small pockets of very fine bone tucked inside the skull, and they are all scanned the same way: thin slices through a narrow area, reconstructed so the radiologist can look at the bone in detail from several directions. A plain x-ray cannot separate structures this small because everything overlaps on a single flat image; CT can. The "without contrast" part matters — no dye is injected, so the study shows the bones, the air spaces, and the soft tissue outlines, but not how blood is moving through them.

Why it is done

To look at the bony walls of the eye socket after facial trauma, or to look for something inside the orbit pressing on the eye
To examine the temporal bone, the dense block of bone housing the middle and inner ear, in hearing loss, chronic ear infection, or after injury
To look at the sella, the small saddle of bone that holds the pituitary gland, and the structures immediately around it
To map the anatomy in fine detail before surgery in any of these areas, where the landmarks are millimeters apart

What to expect

No preparation is needed for a scan done without contrast — no fasting, no IV line. The patient lies on their back on a narrow table with the head resting in a cradle, and the table moves slowly through the ring of the scanner while it rotates around the head. Staying still is the main requirement, because these are thin slices and small movements blur them. The scanning itself is over in a few minutes; the whole appointment is usually shorter than the paperwork around it. Results come from a radiologist's reading rather than from the technologist at the machine.

Questions worth asking

Was the scan ordered without contrast, and if contrast is added on the day, does that change the code and the price I was quoted?
Which region is actually being scanned? Orbits, sella, and temporal bone are separate orders, and scanning two of them may be billed as two exams.
If this follows a scan of the whole head done earlier the same day, am I being charged for both, and was the second one necessary?
Does the price I have been given include the radiologist's interpretation, or only the scanner time?

What Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) costs by state

Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Texas — 112 hospitals, median $1,678.86
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in California — 90 hospitals, median $1,906.89
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Florida — 72 hospitals, median $3,808.23
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Ohio — 68 hospitals, median $962.65
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Illinois — 51 hospitals, median $1,818.00
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Virginia — 43 hospitals, median $1,360.00
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Tennessee — 38 hospitals, median $559.65
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Wisconsin — 33 hospitals, median $1,351.02
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Pennsylvania — 32 hospitals, median $879.00
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Washington — 32 hospitals, median $911.60
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Iowa — 28 hospitals, median $1,392.95
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Michigan — 27 hospitals, median $1,151.00
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Indiana — 26 hospitals, median $612.00
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Kentucky — 26 hospitals, median $1,636.20
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Georgia — 25 hospitals, median $1,385.28
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Arizona — 23 hospitals, median $337.18
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in New York — 23 hospitals, median $125.84
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Missouri — 21 hospitals, median $883.30
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in New Jersey — 21 hospitals, median $353.04
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Minnesota — 19 hospitals, median $1,815.20
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Colorado — 17 hospitals, median $4,686.25
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Oklahoma — 17 hospitals, median $1,007.50
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in West Virginia — 17 hospitals, median $693.50
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in North Carolina — 15 hospitals, median $1,430.20
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Oregon — 13 hospitals, median $837.75
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Nebraska — 12 hospitals, median $1,394.50
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Arkansas — 11 hospitals, median $770.90
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Kansas — 11 hospitals, median $4,854.76
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Mississippi — 11 hospitals, median $645.12
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in South Carolina — 11 hospitals, median $1,517.40
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Maine — 7 hospitals, median $1,394.15
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in South Dakota — 7 hospitals, median $2,098.40
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Alaska — 5 hospitals, median $1,950.78
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Nevada — 4 hospitals, median $1,101.47
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in North Dakota — 4 hospitals, median $1,929.60
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Wyoming — 4 hospitals, median $1,469.44
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Hawaii — 2 hospitals, median $629.12
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Maryland — 2 hospitals, median $140.40
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in New Mexico — 2 hospitals, median $1,749.72
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Louisiana — 1 hospitals, median $214.24
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in Montana — 1 hospitals, median $999.20
Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost in New Hampshire — 1 hospitals, median $1,797.15

Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) prices at hospitals

See every published price for Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast): the full national range, the state and hospital breakdowns, and which hospitals charge the least.

Eye Socket, Pituitary or Ear CT Scan (without contrast) cost — see all prices →

Sources

RadiologyInfo (RSNA/ACR): Computed Tomography (CT) - Head (opens in a new tab, leaves healthcosts.net)

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