Lecture 5a: Chest radiograph Flashcards
What is the standard chest radiograph?
Frontal Posterior-Anterior (PA) Chest Radiograph
If a patient is disabled (cannot stand), what kind of radiograph can you do?
Frontal Anterior-Posterior (AP) Chest Radiograph
What do you look for at the cardio/costophrenic angles?
Sharpness/no fluid
Which hila is highe?
Left (above the heart)
What are the three zones of the lung? Do they correlate with the lobes?
Upper, middle, lower; nope
Can you trust an enlarged heart on an AP radiograph?
Not necessarily, could be an artifact
How can you measure inspiration?
Count the number of ribs that cross the mid-clavicular line at the level of the diaphragm on inspiration (normal is 5-7)
What is under penetration?
If not enough X-rays went through, you cannot distinguish structures
How do we assess rotation?
Spinous processes should be straight in between medial clavicular heads
Parenchymal abnormalities (5)
Consolidation, interstitial markings, nodule, mass, atelectasis
Consolidation
Vessels are obscured by white “fluffy stuff”
Interstitial markings
Thickened interstitium
Difference between nodule and mass
Mass is larger
Atelectasis
High tissue density because lungs are not filled with air
What is the silhouette sign? What can it show you?
Loss of border between lung and another structure caused by mass/fluid; can tell you if an abnormality is in front of or behind another structure (if you lack a border, it is because the diseased tissue is flush with the other structure)
