title: Value of the lateral view in diagnosing pleural plaques.
abstract: To assess the value of the lateral view in the diagnosis of pleural plaques, 2018 chest roentgenograms from the general population were scrutinized for such plaques. The lateral and posterior-anterior (PA) views were read separately and without knowledge of the occupational history or other clinical data. Of the males, 4.8% had pleural plaques in the PA view and 2% had dorsal pleural plaques in the lateral view. A total of 54% of the positive cases in the PA view also showed dorsal plaques in the lateral view, while 69% of those with dorsal plaques also showed typical plaques in the PA view. Thus, there remained a number of cases which were diagnosed only in the lateral view; in all, these constituted 18.8%.
mesh_terms: D001195:Asbestosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008297:Male; D008722:Methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D010994:Pleura / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D010995:Pleural Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011859:Radiography