AJR. American journal of roentgenology
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AJR Am J Roentgenol · Jan 1990
Comparative StudyCT and chest radiography are equally sensitive in the detection of pneumothorax after CT-guided pulmonary interventional procedures.
Pneumothorax is the most common complication after CT-guided pulmonary interventional procedures and should be promptly diagnosed and treated. Because it is easier to obtain CT scans than chest radiographs after CT-guided interventional procedures, it is important to know the sensitivity of CT in detecting pneumothoraces. To determine the sensitivity of CT for detecting procedure-induced pneumothoraces, we retrospectively reviewed 70 pulmonary interventional procedures performed under CT guidance. ⋯ Twenty-nine (91%) of the pneumothoraces were detected on CT scans and 27 (84%) were detected on chest radiographs. The difference between these two detection rates was not statistically significant (p less than .90). We conclude that postprocedure CT scans can replace expiratory chest radiographs for the detection of pneumothoraces after CT-directed pulmonary procedures.
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AJR Am J Roentgenol · Jan 1990
Radiographic detection of esophageal malpositioning of endotracheal tubes.
Insertion of an endotracheal tube into the esophagus is an infrequent but life-threatening complication of endotracheal intubation. This complication is difficult to detect on standard, anteroposterior, portable chest radiographs because the incorrectly placed endotracheal tube is usually projected over the tracheal air column. To evaluate the use of chest radiographs to detect the malposition, we performed a two-part study. ⋯ The study of the portable chest radiographs showed that the endotracheal tube position could be identified correctly in 81 (92%) of 88 of the films made with the patient in a 25 degrees right posterior oblique position. The trachea and esophagus were superimposed in 25 (96%) of 26 of the radiographs made with the head turned to the left and with the patient in a 25 degrees left posterior oblique projection. Our results show that by positioning patients for chest radiographs in a 25 degrees right posterior oblique position, the location of endotracheal tubes can be identified accurately.