A Chest x-ray is obtained either in
a physician's office or in the hospital. To obtain a
standard PA or postero-anterior view (it is called postero-anterior
because the x-ray beam comes from the posterior or back
and moves through the chest to the anterior or front).
The patient is positioned so that his or her chest touches
the container of the x-ray film. The x-ray machine sends
a beam from the back and records an image on the film,
as shown below. Frequently, a "lateral" film
is obtained by having the patient stand sideways in
front of the film. This allows the physician to examine
the chest from the side. This may help pickup, confirm,
or rule out an abnormality suspected in the other view.
A Chest x-ray is very valuable in answering the following
questions:
Is the heart enlarged or normal? Are there signs of
heart failure and fluid overload? Does the patient have
pneumonia or a collapsed lung? Is there evidence of
emphysema? Are there findings of an aneurysm involving
the aorta (the major blood vessel that arises from the
heart and supplies oxygenated blood to the body)? Is
there fluid in the sac that surrounds the lung? Is there
free air under the diaphragm (the partition that separates
the chest from the abdomen) to suggest a hole in the
bowel wall? Is there a tumor in the lung that could
represent cancer? Are there changes of bronchitis or
emphysema.
Thus, one can easily see the cost-effectiveness
of this relatively simple test. In patient's with lung
or heart disease, chest x-rays obtained at yearly, or
longer, intervals may provide information about the
progression, stability or improvement of disease.
Shown below is a panoramic view of a patient getting
a chest x-ray
. You may place your mouse
cursor within the panoramic picture and pan left or
right.
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