what to look for in the apparently normal radiograph
Last reviewed 01/2018
If the chest radiograph appears normal then the following should be checked for:
- a mastectomy
- a small apical pneumothorax
- a fluid level below the heart, due to a hiatus hernia
- collapse of the right middle lobe and loss of clarity of the right heart border
- absence of the outline of the left diaphragm behind the heart (sail sign) as a result of left lower lobe collapse
- deviation of the trachea
- paratracheal lymphadenopathy
- air beneath the diaphragm
- dextrocardia with the film reversed
- always check the apices, hila, behind the heart and the costophrenic angles