Views
Different views of the chest can be obtained by changing the relative orientation of the body and the direction of the x-ray beams. The most common views are posteroanterior, anteroposterior, and lateral. In an posteroanterior (PA) view, the x-ray source is positioned so that x-rays enter through the posterior (back) aspect of the chest, and exit out of the anterior (front) aspect where they are detected. To obtain this view, individuals stand facing a flat surface behind which is an x-ray detector. A radiation source is positioned behind the patient at a standard distance, and x-ray beams are transmitted toward the patient.
In anteroposterior (AP) views, the positions of the x-ray source and detector are reversed: x-rays enter through the anterior aspect and exit through the posterior aspect of the chest. AP chest x-rays are harder to interpret than PA x-rays and are therefore generally reserved for situations where it is difficult for the patient to obtain a normal chest x-ray, such as when the patient cannot get out of bed. In this situation, mobile X-ray equipment is used to obtain a lying down chest x-ray (known as a "supine film"). As a result most supine films are also AP.
Lateral views of the chest are obtained in a similar fashion as the posteroanterior views, except in the lateral view, the patient stands with both arms raised and the left side of the chest pressed against a flat surface.
Read more about this topic: Chest Radiograph
Famous quotes containing the word views:
“Meek young men grow up in libraries, believing it their duty to accept the views which Cicero, which Locke, which Bacon, have given, forgetful that Cicero, Locke, and Bacon were only young men in libraries, when they wrote these books. Hence, instead of Man Thinking, we have the book-worm.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The word “conservative” is used by the BBC as a portmanteau word of abuse for anyone whose views differ from the insufferable, smug, sanctimonious, naive, guilt-ridden, wet, pink orthodoxy of that sunset home of the third-rate minds of that third-rate decade, the nineteen-sixties.”
—Norman Tebbit (b. 1931)
“Views of women, on one side, as inwardly directed toward home and family and notions of men, on the other, as outwardly striving toward fame and fortune have resounded throughout literature and in the texts of history, biology, and psychology until they seem uncontestable. Such dichotomous views defy the complexities of individuals and stifle the potential for people to reveal different dimensions of themselves in various settings.”
—Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (20th century)