[Diagnoses of bronchus and lung trauma by computed tomography and X-ray examination in 37 cases: a comparative study].
OBJECTIVE
To study the value of computed tomography (CT) in the diagnosis of traumatic injuries in the bronchus and lung.


METHODS
A retrospective analysis was conducted of the CT and X-ray radiographic images of the bronchus and lung in 36 cases of traumatic injuries in the chest.


RESULTS
Based on CT manifestations, the lung injuries of the 37 cases fell into 3 categories, namely mild, moderate and severe injuries. Of the 9 cases of mild lung injuries identified by CT, 5 failed to be detected by X-ray examination; in the 15 cases of moderate injuries, X-ray examination showed more confined areas of the injuries with lesser severity than CT did. In the rest 13 cases of severe injuries, only 9 were identified by X-ray. Bronchial injuries occurred in 3 case that were totally unidentifiable by X-ray and even routine CT scanning did not result in exact diagnoses. The injuries, however, were clearly demonstrated by thin-slice CT scan of the hila area after reconstruction of the images.


CONCLUSIONS
Chest X-ray is not sufficient for traumatic chest injury examination in the emergency room that necessitates CT scanning of the chest.
Shang
Xue-Lin
XL
Department of Radiology, 303 Hospital of PLA, Nanning 530021, China.
Zhang
Yu-Zhong
YZ
Zhang
Xue-Lin
XL
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001980:Bronchi / Q000293:injuries*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D055370:Lung Injury; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*