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: Duplicate Superior Vena Cava
Figure 1. AP chest X-ray demonstrating duplicate superior vena cava (SVC) with central lines in both the right and left superior vena cava (arrows at catheter tips). The chest x-ray shows the characteristic left-sided course of the catheter passing through a persistent left SVC (straight arrow).
Figure 2. Contrast enhanced CT of chest revealing left -sided SVC (arrow).
A persistent left SVC is the most common thoracic venous anomaly and usually opens into the right atrium via the coronary sinus. A central line inserted into the left SVC may be mistaken for placement in other sites such as the subclavian or carotid artery, the mediastinum, the pericardium or pleural space. A duplicate SVC may cause difficulty in introducing central venous catheters or pulmonary artery catheters because of the narrow opening of the coronary sinus to reach the right atrium. In addition, a duplicate SVC is associated with important cardiac conditions such as atrial septal defects and ventricular arrhythmias.
Dena L’Heureux MD, Josh Malo MD and Linda Snyder MD
Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ
Reference as: L'Heureux D, Malo J, Snyder L. Medical image of the week: duplicate superior vena cava. Southwest J Pulm Crit Care. 2013;6(4):178-9. PDF