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: Tracheoesophageal fistula
Figure 1. Bronchoscopy showing tracheoesophageal fistula (arrow) with Dobhoff tube (arrowhead).
A 51 year old woman with a history of tracheal and bronchial stents for airway impingment from small cell carcinoma was intubated for respiratory failure. After prolonged intubation, she underwent tracheostomy to transition into hospice. The tracheal stent was removed during the procedure due to its location. A tracheoesophageal fistula was demonstrated by visualization of her feeding tube on bronchoscopy performed the next day. The patient underwent palliative ablation of the tracheal tumor and died several days later in hospice.
Candy Wong, MD; Josh Malo, MD; James Knepler, MD
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
Arizona Respiratory Center
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Reference as: Wong C, Malo J, Knepler J. Medical image of the week: tracheoesophageal fistula. Southwest J Pulm Crit Care. 2013;6(6):277. PDF