Journal of thoracic imaging
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Digital radiography and display systems have revolutionized radiologic practice in recent years and have enabled clinical application of advanced image processing techniques. These include dual energy subtraction and temporal subtraction, both of which can improve diagnostic accuracy for abnormal findings in chest radiographs, especially for subtle lesions such as early lung cancer or focal pneumonia. Dual energy radiography exploits the differential attenuation of low-energy x-ray photons by calcium to produce separate images on the bones and soft tissues, which provides improved detection and characterization of both calcified and noncalcified lung lesions. ⋯ Temporal subtraction is a complementary technique that enhances interval change, by using a previous radiograph as a subtraction mask, so that unchanged normal anatomy is suppressed, whereas new abnormalities are enhanced. Though it is not yet a product in the United States, temporal subtraction is available for clinical use in Japan. Temporal subtraction can be combined with energy subtraction to reduce misregistration artifacts, and also has potential to improve computer-aided detection of nodules and other types of lung disease.
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Chest computed tomography (CT) is routinely used for the evaluation of diseases of the chest involving the lung, mediastinum, pleura, chest wall, and diaphragm. Benign and malignant breast lesions are not uncommonly encountered incidentally on chest CT. The chest CT radiologist should be aware of the different breast pathologies and their CT appearances as some can be diagnosed by chest CT, whereas others, such as breast cancer, should not be overlooked. The purpose of this pictorial essay is to show various common and uncommon breast conditions encountered while interpreting chest CT scans in our daily practice.