TECHNICAL MODIFICATION OF ROUTINE CHEST RADIOGRAPHS

The average roentgen image of the thorax does not completely fill a 14 by 17 in. radiograph. Approximately 4 in. of the film is noninforming in the subdiaphragmatic and superclavicular areas. Many European radiologists use 14 by 14 in. radiographs for chest work. I have copied their technique, but use a standard 14 by 17 in. film and cassette instead. Survey sagittal chest radiographs have three important blind spots: the posterior subdiaphragmatic area, the retrocardiac area, and the apical areas hidden by the clavicles and first ribs. Lateral radiographs of the chest will visualize the first two, but it takes a lordotic view to adequately visualize the apical lung fields in certain body builds.Study of lordotic radiographs of the chest show that their value is confined mostly to the upper one-fifth of the thoracic cage, and that below this the overlap of lung markings obscure radiographic detail. By the