The Journal of family practice
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Comparative Study
Diagnosing left lower lobe pneumonia: usefulness of the 'spine sign' on lateral chest radiographs.
Left lower lobe pneumonia may be obscured by the heart on the postero-anterior (PA) chest radiograph. In such cases, the lateral projection may be helpful, especially if it exhibits the "spine sign", which is an interruption in the progressive increase in lucency of the vertebral bodies from superior to inferior. We investigated whether the spine sign would help family physicians diagnose left lower lobe pneumonia on chest radiographs. ⋯ In this study of family physicians, the lateral chest radiograph did not improve overall diagnostic accuracy in patients with left lower lobe pneumonia. Among pneumonia patients with the spine sign, however, the lateral view was often helpful.