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Imaging

Last 50 Imaging Postings

(Most recent listed first. Click on title to be directed to the manuscript.)

May 2025 Medical Image of the Month: Aspirated Dental Screw
April 2025 Medical Image of the Month: An Unfortunate Case of Mimicry
March 2025 Medical Image of the Month: An Unusual Case of Pulmonary
   Infarction
February 2025 Medical Image of the Month: Unexpected Complications of
   Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt (TIPS) 
February 2025 Imaging Case of the Month: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
January 2025 Medical Image of the Month: Psoriasis with Pulmonary
   Involvement
December 2024 Medical Image of the Month: An Endobronchial Tumor
November 2024 Medical Image of the Month: A Case of Short Telomeres
November 2024 Imaging Case of the Month: A Recurring Issue
October 2024 Medical Image of the Month: Lofgren syndrome with Erythema
   Nodosum
September 2024 Medical Image of the Month: A Curious Case of Nasal
   Congestion
August 2024 Image of the Month: Lymphomatoid Granulomatosis
August 2024 Imaging Case of the Month: An Unexplained Pleural Effusion
July 2024 Medical Image of the Month: Vocal Cord Paralysis on PET-CT 
June 2024 Medical Image of the Month: A 76-year-old Man Presenting with
   Acute Hoarseness
May 2024 Medical Image of the Month: Hereditary Hemorrhagic
   Telangiectasia in a Patient on Veno-Arterial Extra-Corporeal Membrane
   Oxygenation
May 2024 Imaging Case of the Month: Nothing Is Guaranteed
April 2024 Medical Image of the Month: Wind Instruments Player Exhibiting
   Exceptional Pulmonary Function
March 2024 Medical Image of the Month: Sputum Cytology in Patients with
   Suspected Lung Malignancy Presenting with Acute Hypoxic Respiratory
   Failure
February 2024 Medical Image of the Month: Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis
   in Myelodysplastic Syndrome
February 2024 Imaging Case of the Month: Connecting Some Unusual Dots
January 2024 Medical Image of the Month: Polyangiitis Overlap Syndrome
   (POS) Mimicking Fungal Pneumonia 
December 2023 Medical Image of the Month: Metastatic Pulmonary
   Calcifications in End-Stage Renal Disease 
November 2023 Medical Image of the Month: Obstructive Uropathy
   Extremis
November 2023 Imaging Case of the Month: A Crazy Association
October 2023 Medical Image of the Month: Swyer-James-MacLeod
   Syndrome
September 2023 Medical Image of the Month: Aspergillus Presenting as a
   Pulmonary Nodule in an Immunocompetent Patient
August 2023 Medical Image of the Month: Cannonball Metastases from
   Metastatic Melanoma
August 2023 Imaging Case of the Month: Chew Your Food Carefully
July 2023 Medical Image of the Month: Primary Tracheal Lymphoma
June 2023 Medical Image of the Month: Solitary Fibrous Tumor of the Pleura
May 2023 Medical Image of the Month: Methamphetamine Inhalation
   Leading to Cavitary Pneumonia and Pleural Complications
April 2023 Medical Image of the Month: Atrial Myxoma in the setting of
   Raynaud’s Phenomenon: Early Echocardiography and Management of
   Thrombotic Disease
April 2023 Imaging Case of the Month: Large Impact from a Small Lesion
March 2023 Medical Image of the Month: Spontaneous Pneumomediastinum
   as a Complication of Marijuana Smoking Due to Müller's Maneuvers
February 2023 Medical Image of the Month: Reversed Halo Sign in the
   Setting of a Neutropenic Patient with Angioinvasive Pulmonary
   Zygomycosis
January 2023 Medical Image of the Month: Abnormal Sleep Study and PFT
   with Supine Challenge Related to Idiopathic Hemidiaphragmatic Paralysis
December 2022 Medical Image of the Month: Bronchoesophageal Fistula in
   the Setting of Pulmonary Actinomycosis
November 2022 Medical Image of the Month: COVID-19 Infection
   Presenting as Spontaneous Subcapsular Hematoma of the Kidney
November 2022 Imaging Case of the Month: Out of Place in the Thorax
October 2022 Medical Image of the Month: Infected Dasatinib Induced
   Chylothorax-The First Reported Case 
September 2022 Medical Image of the Month: Epiglottic Calcification
Medical Image of the Month: An Unexpected Cause of Chronic Cough
August 2022 Imaging Case of the Month: It’s All About Location
July 2022 Medical Image of the Month: Pulmonary Nodule in the
   Setting of Pyoderma Gangrenosum (PG) 
June 2022 Medical Image of the Month: A Hard Image to Swallow
May 2022 Medical Image of the Month: Pectus Excavatum
May 2022 Imaging Case of the Month: Asymmetric Apical Opacity–
   Diagnostic Considerations
April 2022 Medical Image of the Month: COVID Pericarditis
March 2022 Medical Image of the Month: Pulmonary Nodules in the
   Setting of Diffuse Idiopathic Pulmonary NeuroEndocrine Cell Hyperplasia
   (DIPNECH) 
February 2022 Medical Image of the Month: Multifocal Micronodular
   Pneumocyte Hyperplasia in the Setting of Tuberous Sclerosis
February 2022 Imaging Case of the Month: Between A Rock and a
   Hard Place
January 2022 Medical Image of the Month: Bronchial Obstruction
   Due to Pledget in Airway Following Foregut Cyst Resection
December 2021 Medical Image of the Month: Aspirated Dental Implant
Medical Image of the Month: Cavitating Pseudomonas
   aeruginosa Pneumonia
November 2021 Imaging Case of the Month: Let’s Not Dance
   the Twist
Medical Image of the Month: COVID-19-Associated Pulmonary
   Aspergillosis in a Post-Liver Transplant Patient

 

For complete imaging listings click here

Those who care for patients with pulmonary, critical care or sleep disorders rely heavily on chest radiology and pathology to determine diagnoses. The Southwest Journal of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep publishes case-based articles with characteristic chest imaging and related pathology. The editor of this section will oversee and coordinate the publication of a core of the most important chest imaging topics. In doing so, they encourage the submission of unsolicited manuscripts. It cannot be overemphasized that both radiologic and pathologic images must be of excellent quality. As a rule, 600 DPI is sufficient for radiographic and pathologic images. Taking pictures of plain chest radiographs and CT scans with a digital camera is strongly discouraged. The figures should be cited in the text and numbered consecutively. The stain used for pathology specimens and magnification should be mentioned in the figure legend. Those who care for patients with pulmonary, critical care or sleep disorders rely heavily on chest radiology and pathology to determine diagnoses. The Southwest Journal of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep publishes case-based articles with characteristic chest imaging and related pathology. The editor of this section will oversee and coordinate the publication of a core of the most important chest imaging topics. In doing so, they encourage the submission of unsolicited manuscripts. It cannot be overemphasized that both radiologic and pathologic images must be of excellent quality. As a rule, 600 DPI is sufficient for radiographic and pathologic images. Taking pictures of plain chest radiographs and CT scans with a digital camera is strongly discouraged. The figures should be cited in the text and numbered consecutively. The stain used for pathology specimens and magnification should be mentioned in the figure legend.

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Saturday
Mar022019

Medical Image of the Month: Incarcerated Morgagni Hernia

Figure 1. Lateral view of abdominal-thoracic CT in soft tissue windows.

 

Figure 2. Coronal view of thoracic CT scan in lung windows.

 

A Morgagni hernia is a congenital diaphragmatic hernia in which abdominal viscera herniate into the thorax via a defect within an anterior attachment of the diaphragm. As with any bowel-containing hernia, the most feared complication is strangulation with subsequent bowel necrosis. In the present case, a 67-year-old woman presented with a five-day history of acute onset and progressively worsening upper abdominal pain and inability to tolerate oral intake, associated with nausea, vomiting, and mild shortness of breath. A CT revealed a large defect in the right hemidiaphragm consistent with a Morgagni hernia with herniation of the omentum, vessels, and a segment of transverse colon (Figure 1). Findings of bowel ischemia were observed, including (a) pneumatosis intestinalis, seen as cystic foci of air lining the bowel wall, and (b) fluid and fat-stranding adjacent to the affected bowel (Figure 2). Evidence of bowel wall perforation include large volume free air adjacent to the bowel in the right hemithorax and within the abdomen (Figures 1 and 2). Bowel ischemia and necrosis can occur with any hernia and requires prompt diagnosis and management.

Samandip Hothi MD1 and Viral Patel MD2

1Department of Medicine, Division of Internal Medicine and 2Department of Medical Imaging

University of Arizona College of Medicine-Tucson

Tucson, AZ USA

References

  1. Arora S, Haji A, Ng P. Adult Morgagni Hernia: The Need for Clinical Awareness, Early Diagnosis and Prompt Surgical Intervention. Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 2008 Nov;90(8):694-5. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  2. Ly JQ. The Rigler Sign. Radiology. 2003;228(3):706-7. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  3. Morgan TB, Nguyen DN, Tran CD, Maheshwary RK, Mickus TJ. Morgagni Hernia Causing Incarcerated Bowel and Contributing to Cardiac Arrest. Curr Probl Diagn Radiol. 2018 Jul 31. pii: S0363-0188(18)30181-6. [CrossRef]

Cite as: Hothi S, Patel V. Medical image of the month: Incarcerated Morgagni hernia. Southwest J Pulm Crit Care. 2019;18:59-60. doi: https://doi.org/10.13175/swjpcc001-19 PDF 

Saturday
Feb022019

Medical Image of the Month: Pectus Excavatum

Figure 1. A) PA chest radiograph at 38 years old demonstrates rib cage growth arrest at the time of pectus repair. B) and C) demonstrate the coronal and sagittal CT chest views.

 

Figure 2: Pulmonary function tests demonstrate severe restrictive ventilatory defect.

 

Clinical History

A 38-year-old man with obesity and history of pectus excavatum post-operative surgical repair at age 4 presented to the general pulmonary clinic with symptoms of severe dyspnea on exertion after walking one block. Chest x-ray and thoracic CT scan demonstrate anterior chest wall depression. (Figure 1). Pulmonary function testing demonstrated a severe restrictive lung disease (Figure 2).  High resolution CT demonstrated anterior chest wall depression. The Haller index was 2.5—mild excavatum—with associated scarring in the anterior right lung. Expiratory air-trapping was seen consistent with small airways disease.

Haller Index

The Haller index is calculated by dividing the transverse diameter of the chest by the anterior-posterior distance on the CT of the chest on the axial slice that demonstrates the smallest distance between the anterior surface of the vertebral body and the posterior surface of the sternum (1). Normal chest < 2.0; mild excavatum 2.0 – 3.2; moderate excavatum 3.2 – 3.5; severe excavatum > 3.5. Corrective surgery is considered for a Haller index of greater than or equal to 3.25.  Secondary thoracic dystrophy is a known consequence of too early repair of pectus excavatum (1).  Cases like our patient have changed when surgical repair is attempted until after puberty.

Michael Insel, MD and Janet Campion, MD

Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine

Banner University Medical Center-Tucson

Tucson, AZ USA

Reference

  1. Haller JA Jr, Colombani PM, Humphries CT, Azizkhan RG, Loughlin GM. Chest wall constriction after too extensive and too early operations for pectus excavatum. Ann Thorac Surg. 1996 Jun;61(6):1618-24. [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Cite as: Insel M, Campion J. Medical image of the month: pectus excavatum. Southwest J Pulm Crit Care. 2019;18(2):50-1. doi: https://doi.org/10.13175/swjpcc124-18 PDF