Cardiopoulm Tes 3 Lecture 2: Chest X Rays

air shows up as what color on x rays

black

what are the 3 basic views for chest xrays

• PA

• AP

• Lateral

Differentiate which is PA vs AP view. Why

Left PA:

• clavicles ELEVATED

• medial border of scap NOT in center of lung fields

• heart NOT magnified and enlarged

Right: AP

• clavicles HORIZONTAL

• scapulae in lung fields

• heart appears magnified/elarged

labeled PA view 

first rib attaches to

T1

3 ways x rays can be unreliable

1. rotation

2. exposure

3. inspiration vs. expiration

look at the distance btwn ___ and ___ to tell if pt was rotated during x ray

spinous process and medial clavicles

which was was this pt rotated when getting imaging?

R line is larger so it means R side was farther away. meaning pt was rotated R. whichever line is longer means pt was rotated that way (this info might be wrong. check w ahmed!!!)

if you cannot see the thoracic vertebrae behind the heart in a a CXR, the xray is _____________

underexposed

if u can clearly see the thoracic vertebrae behind the heart, your x ray might be ______

overexposed

in an (over/under)exposed x ray, people might think that there is too much air and pt has pneumothorax

overexposed

which is inspiration vs expiration. how do u known

Pic 1: inspiration (inhale —> diaphragm goes down. you can see 9-10 ribs in full inspiration)

• u want pt in full inspiration to see how much air lungs can hold. u want to see if there are issues w lung getting air

Pic 2 expiration: u see less than 9 ribs

What do u term each of these pics?

Pic 1: homogenous opacity - area of opacity with UNIFORM DENSITY throughout, appearing evenly white or grey

Pic 2: heterogenous opacity: area of opacity with NON-uniform density, appearing as a mix of lighter and darker regions