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: Aortic Tear
Figure 1. Portable chest x-ray demonstrating widened mediastinum with an apical cap, consistent with aortic rupture.
A 56-year old man presented as a trauma victim with the chief complaint of severe back pain. He was hemodynamically acceptable on arrival, but arrested shortly after this portable film was obtained (Figure 1). Emergency Department (ED) thoracotomy revealed a 3 cm longitudinal tear of the thoracic aorta and he exsanguinated in the ED.
Jarrod M. Mosier, MD
Department of Medicine and Emergency Medicine
Emergency Medicine-Critical Care Program
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Reference as: Mosier JM. Medical image of the week: aortic tear. Southwest J Pulm Crit Care. 2013;7(5): . doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13175/swjpcc152-13 PDF