TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Chapter 4. Radiology of the Chest A1 - Chiles, Caroline A1 - Gulla, Shannon M. A2 - Chen, Michael Y.M. A2 - Pope, Thomas L. A2 - Ott, David J. Y1 - 2011 N1 - T2 - Basic Radiology, 2e AB - The chest radiograph is the most frequently performed radiographic study in the United States. It should almost always be the first radiologic study ordered for evaluation of diseases of the thorax. The natural contrast of the aerated lungs provides a window into the body to evaluate the patient for diseases involving the heart, lungs, pleurae, tracheobronchial tree, esophagus, thoracic lymph nodes, thoracic skeleton, chest wall, and upper abdomen. In both acute and chronic illnesses, the chest radiograph allows one to detect a disease and monitor its response to therapy. For many disease processes (eg, pneumonia and congestive heart failure) the diagnosis can be established and the disease followed to resolution with no further imaging studies. There are limitations to the chest radiograph, and diseases may not be sufficiently advanced to be detected or may not result in detectable abnormalities. Other imaging methods are needed to complement the conventional chest radiograph. These imaging methods include computed tomography (CT), positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) and other radionuclide studies, magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, and ultrasound (US). These techniques, their clinical uses, and case studies are included in this chapter. SN - PB - The McGraw-Hill Companies CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/10/14 UR - accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=6668687 ER -