title: The chest and aging: radiological findings.
abstract: In the elderly (conventionally defined as individuals ≥ 60 years of age), it is often difficult to establish what normality is, because of the numerous anatomical and physiological modifications that occur during the aging process. As a result, the greatest challenge is to differentiate between the normal aging process and the onset of disease. Healthy elderly people commonly present borderline findings on chest imaging. We systematically reviewed the medical literature on the subject, covering the period between 1950 and 2011, including articles in Portuguese, English, French, Italian, and Spanish. We searched the PubMed, LILACS, and SciELO databases, using the search terms "age", "aging", "lung", "thorax", "chest", "X-ray", "radiography", "pulmonary", and "computed tomography"-as well as their corresponding translations-in various combinations. We included only original or review articles on aging-related chest imaging findings. In broad terms, aging results in physiological modifications that must be recognized so as not to be erroneously interpreted as pathological.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonology, Santa Casa Hospital Complex in Porto Alegre, UFSCPA, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil. brunohochhegger@gmail.com
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hochhegger
authors.forename: Gustavo Souza
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Meirelles
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Irion
authors.forename: Gláucia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zanetti
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moreira
authors.forename: Edson
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Marchiori
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006321:Heart / Q000502:physiology*; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000502:physiology; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008482:Mediastinum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D035441:Thoracic Wall / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000502:physiology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed