A-Z Chest Radiology

Una radiografía de tórax se utiliza para diagnosticar enfermedades que afectan el tórax.

a-z chest radiology

a-z of chest radiology

acute chest radiology

air crescent sign chest radiology

air fluid level chest radiology

amiodarone chest radiology

Chest radiographs are used to diagnose many conditions involving the chest wall, including its bones, and also structures contained within the thoracic cavity including the lungs, heart, and great vessels. Pneumonia and congestive heart failure are very commonly diagnosed by chest radiograph. Chest radiographs are also used to screen for job-related lung disease in industries such as mining where workers are exposed to dust.

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anatomy of chest radiology

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A chest radiograph, colloquially called a chest X-ray (CXR), or chest film, is a projection radiograph of the chest used to diagnose conditions affecting the chest, its contents, and nearby structures. Chest radiographs are the most common film taken in medicine.

Like all methods of radiography, chest radiography employs ionizing radiation in the form of X-rays to generate images of the chest. The mean radiation dose to an adult from a chest radiograph is around 0.02 mSv (2 mrem) for a front view (PA, or posteroanterior) and 0.08 mSv (8 mrem) for a side view (LL, or latero-lateral). Together, this corresponds to a background radiation equivalent time of about 10 days.

For some conditions of the chest, radiography is good for screening but poor for diagnosis. When a condition is suspected based on chest radiography, additional imaging of the chest can be obtained to definitively diagnose the condition or to provide evidence in favor of the diagnosis suggested by initial chest radiography. Unless a fractured rib is suspected of being displaced, and therefore likely to cause damage to the lungs and other tissue structures, x-ray of the chest is not necessary as it will not alter patient management.

The main regions where a chest X-ray may identify problems may be summarized as ABCDEF by their first letters:

Airways, including hilar adenopathy or enlargement

Breast shadows

Bones, e.g. rib fractures and lytic bone lesions

Cardiac silhouette, detecting cardiac enlargement

Costophrenic angles, including pleural effusions

Diaphragm, e.g. evidence of free air, indicative of perforation of an abdominal viscus

Edges, e.g. apices for fibrosis, pneumothorax, pleural thickening or plaques

Extrathoracic tissues

Fields (lung parenchyma), being evidence of alveolar flooding

Failure, e.g. alveolar air space disease with prominent vascularity with or without pleural effusions