title: Normal plain film examination of the heart and great arteries in the adult.
abstract: A plain film chest examination is nearly always obtained in the management of patients suspected of cardiac disease. The wealth of diagnostic information obtained from posteroanterior and lateral thoracic images is often essential data needed to direct the evaluation and treatment of these patients. Appreciation of the normal cardiac, pulmonary, and great vessel anatomy provides a basis for the identification and characterization of the abnormal. Furthermore, the chest radiograph provides an important means to appreciate the pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying the morphologic changes in patients with congenital heart disease.
authors: Department of Radiology, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York.
authors: L M
authors: LM
authors: Boxt
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Reagan
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Katz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008297:Male; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic; D014683:Vena Cava, Superior / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging