Imaging
Those who care for patients with pulmonary, critical care or sleep disorders rely heavily on chest radiology and pathology to determine diagnoses. The Southwest Journal of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep publishes case-based articles with characteristic chest imaging and related pathology.
The editor of this section will oversee and coordinate the publication of a core of the most important chest imaging topics. In doing so, they encourage the submission of unsolicited manuscripts. It cannot be overemphasized that both radiologic and pathologic images must be of excellent quality. As a rule, 600 DPI is sufficient for radiographic and pathologic images. Taking pictures of plain chest radiographs and CT scans with a digital camera is strongly discouraged. The figures should be cited in the text and numbered consecutively. The stain used for pathology specimens and magnification should be mentioned in the figure legend. Those who care for patients with pulmonary, critical care or sleep disorders rely heavily on chest radiology and pathology to determine diagnoses. The Southwest Journal of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep publishes case-based articles with characteristic chest imaging and related pathology. The editor of this section will oversee and coordinate the publication of a core of the most important chest imaging topics. In doing so, they encourage the submission of unsolicited manuscripts. It cannot be overemphasized that both radiologic and pathologic images must be of excellent quality. As a rule, 600 DPI is sufficient for radiographic and pathologic images. Taking pictures of plain chest radiographs and CT scans with a digital camera is strongly discouraged. The figures should be cited in the text and numbered consecutively. The stain used for pathology specimens and magnification should be mentioned in the figure legend.
Medical Image of the Week: Pneumomediastinum
Figure 1. Chest X-ray PA view.
Figure 2. CT scan of chest.
A 38-year-old gentleman was flown to the emergency room after being involved in a motor vehicle accident. In the field, he had a Glasgow Coma Scale of about 7 and cricothyrotomy was performed to establish an airway. He sustained severe head and chest injuries, with extensive subcutaneous emphysema. Chest X-ray (Figure 1) and CT scan (Figure 2) revealed pneumomediastinum with classical “continuous diaphragm sign” (red arrows), lucent streaks outlining the ascending aorta (blue arrows) and extensive subcutaneous emphysema (block arrows). Subdural and subarachnoid hemorrhage was detected on CT scan of head. His neurological status worsened over next 24 hours and he was confirmed brain dead.
Ramasubramanian Baalachandran MD, Naser Mahmoud MD, and Laura Meinke MD
Department of Medicine
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
References
- Bejvan SM, Godwin JD. Pneumomediastinum: old signs and new signs. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 1996;166:1041-8. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Levin B. The continuous diaphragm sign. A newly-recognized sign of pneumomediastinum. Clin Radiol.1973;24(3):337-8. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
Reference as: Baalachandran R, Mahmoud N, Meinke L. Medical image of the week: pneumomediastinum. Southwest J Pulm Crit Care. 2014;9(3):189-90. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13175/swjpcc123-14 PDF