My case has a hole in it? Digital X-ray of chest

Re: My case has a hole in it? Digital X-ray of chest

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:29:53 GMT

Lookat the thread 'Spine radiographs' for another thorax with some missing ribs - I think this is a digital artifact. You may not have set for a suitable 'thorax' setting? Alternatively, the computer has been 'fooled' due to the conformation,settings, etc and you may need to manually adjust the 'look-up' table that it usesto decide how to change all the 1's and 0's into a black andwhite picture.

Re: My case has a hole in it? Digital X-ray of chest

Frances Barr — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:28:41 GMT

Hi Neil,

Sorry for the jargon! You probably have a number of choices set up on your system for different patient sizes / body areas. eg. small dog chest, large dog chest, abdomen etc. On some systems (and sorry, I'm not very familar with the Agfa system) you can take the image you have acquired, and change the initial choice you made. So if, for example, you took this on 'large dog chest', you might be able to switch it to 'small dog chest', or 'abdomen'. If you can, it's always worth having a play around because it can make the image dramatically better (or worse!), but you can always change back.

The yellow exclamation mark might mean the exposure was outside the acceptable range though? Just guessing. Look forward to hearing how you get on.

Frances

Re: My case has a hole in it? Digital X-ray of chest

Neil Wheadon — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:59:56 GMT

Dear Francis

Can you explain the 'viewing with a different algorithm?' Is this a slider setting on the toolbars? The interesting thing about this X-Ray is that we are having trouble enlarging them on the screen again and there is a small yellow exclamation mark on the top left of the micro-image. The processor is an AGFA CR30-X

Thankyou very much for answering and I'll post the next one tomorrow when I get it

Neil

Re: My case has a hole in it? Digital X-ray of chest

Frances Barr — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:46:24 GMT

I'm sure this is artefact - caused by exposure or perhaps the digital algorithm used. Lean, deep chested dogs like this one can be tricky because there's soft tissue from the forelimbs at the front of the chest, but just lots of air caudally. Can you tell from your system if the exposure is in an acceptable range? You can on some systems but not others. If not, you could try viewing it with a different algorithm, and if no joy, try again with a different, prob lower, exposure.

Frances

Re: My case has a hole in it? Digital X-ray of chest

Neil Wheadon — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:45:43 GMT

Yes that's the point, where are the ribs? radiographs work as there is contrast between bone, soft tissue, fat and gas, so the ribs will only not show if there is an underlying boney density.

The setter has no history of surgery, is aged 2. it did have a similar episode last year that resolved after 24 hours with antibiotics and fluids.

The other lateral wasn't taken. I did this conscious

Thanks for replying, the owner declined for me to try again with a smaller plate, as worried that the dog was getting distressed (which it wasn't). We are going to try again tomorrow

Re: My case has a hole in it? Digital X-ray of chest

Kate Richardson — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:38:53 GMT

If you are sure it is not an artefact, I would be thinking about a bullous air filled lung lesion, but it is interesting you cannot see the ribs overlying the gas filled area. There is also a gap between the sternebrae just behind the elbow and the gas shadow appears to extend outside of the rib cage- is there any sc emphysema? I guess I am not totally convinced this isn't artefact, but the dog is dyspnoeic. Any history of trauma? There seems to be some caudal deviation of the rib over the cardiac silhouette as well- has the animal had surgery to remove ribs in the past?

Did you take any other views? or the other lateral?