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: Hypertriglyceridemia-induced Pancreatitis
Figure 1. Panel A. Abdominal CT scan showing pancreatitis with edema and indistinct pancreatic borders (arrows). Panel B. Patient’s milky serum sample from elevated triglycerides.
A 38 year old man presented with diffuse abdominal pain and was found to have pancreatitis on abdominal CT image (Figure 1, Panel A). His triglyceride level was 4573 mg/dL and his serum red top tube was visibly lipemic (Figure 1, Panel B). He underwent one cycle of plasmapheresis and his triglyceride level decreased to below 500mg/dL.
Nathaniel Reyes, MD and Gordon Carr, MD
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
Arizona Respiratory Center
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ
Reference as: Reyes N, Carr G. Medical image of the week: hypertriglyceridemia-induced pancreatitis. Southwest J Pulm Crit Care 2013;6(1):22. PDF