Thoracic Radiology is a specialty of radiology that looks at the structure of the lungs and heart. It uses the following imaging modalities: X-Ray plain films, ultrasound, MRI, CT, and flouroscopy. Need for thoracic imaging occurs with such conditions as emphysema, pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary embolism, diffuse lung disease, small airway disease, pulmonary nodules, dyspnea, pneumonia, and tuberculosis. Thoracic Radiology does approximately 36% of the imaging procedures within our department.
Fleischner Society for Thoracic Imaging and Diagnosis
European Society of Thoracic Imaging
Patient Educational Resources:
From http://www.radiologyinfo.com . This is a web site with descriptions of radiologic procedures.
Medline Plus, a web site of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institute of Health also has many links under diagnostic imaging.
http://www.chestx-ray.com/GenPublic/GenPubl.html gives an explanation of X-Ray technology and specifically a chest X-Ray.
