Articles
Articles are a collaborative effort to provide a single canonical page on all topics relevant to the practice of radiology. As such, articles are written and continuously improved upon by countless contributing members. Our dedicated editors oversee each edit for accuracy and style. Find out more about articles.
22 results found
Article
Cyanotic congenital heart disease
A number of entities can present as cyanotic congenital heart disease. These can be divided into those with increased (pulmonary plethora) or decreased pulmonary vascularity:
increased pulmonary vascularity
total anomalous pulmonary venous return (TAPVR) (types I and II)
transposition of the ...
Article
Medical devices in the thorax
Medical devices in the thorax are regularly observed by radiologists when reviewing radiographs and CT scans.
Extrathoracic devices
tubing, clamps, syringes, scissors, lying on or under the patient
rubber sheets, foam mattresses, clothing, hair braids, nipple piercings, etc., may also be visi...
Article
Cardiovascular shunts
Cardiovascular (cardiac) shunts are abnormal connections between the pulmonary and systemic circulations. Most commonly they are the result of congenital heart disease.
Pathology
Blood can either be shunted from the systemic circulation to pulmonary circulation (i.e. 'left-to-right shunt') or ...
Article
Cardiac calcification
Cardiac calcification is a broad term for any calcification affecting the valves, coronary arteries, aortic root, endocardium, myocardium, and/or pericardium.
Pathology
Causes of cardiac calcification are:
coronary artery disease (most common)
coronary artery aneurysms, e.g. in Kawasaki dise...
Article
Valsalva maneuver
The Valsalva maneuver is the forced expiration of air against a closed airway, resulting in increased intra-abdominal, intrathoracic, and pharyngeal pressure. It can be performed against a closed glottis or by one closing the mouth and pinching the nose while forcibly exhaling.
It is commonly u...
Article
Right atrial enlargement
Right atrial (RA) enlargement is less common, and harder to delineate on chest radiograph, than left atrial (LA) enlargement.
Pathology
Etiology
Enlargement of the right atrium (RA) can result from a number of conditions, including:
raised right ventricular pressures
pulmonary arterial hype...
Article
Pericardial fat pads
Pericardial fat pads are normal adipose tissue masses that lie in the cardiophrenic angles and straddle the pericardium as they are derived from both epicardial fat and epipericardial fat, the latter being adherent and external to the parietal pericardium. Fat pads are more prominent in obese pa...
Article
Pulmonary hypertension (differential)
Pulmonary hypertension has many causes, and these can be divided in many ways. A simple and systematic approach is to proceed along the cardiopulmonary pulmonary circulation, as causes are found at each site (for a more official classification system see 2003 third world symposium on pulmonary a...
Article
Differential diagnosis for a small cardiothoracic ratio
A small cardiothoracic ratio (CTR) is defined as <42%/0.42 when assessed on a PA chest radiograph, and is often called small heart syndrome. A pathologically-small heart is also known as microcardia.
It can be due to/associated with a number of entities:
adrenal insufficiency, e.g. Addison...
Article
Hemopericardium
Hemopericardium refers to the presence of blood within the pericardial cavity, i.e. a sanguineous pericardial effusion. If enough blood enters the pericardial cavity, then a potentially fatal cardiac tamponade can occur.
Pathology
Etiology
There is a very long list of causes 1,2 but some of ...
Article
Cardiomegaly
Cardiomegaly is a catch-all term to refer to enlargement of the heart, and should not be confused with causes of enlargement of the cardiomediastinal outline, or enlargement of the cardiac silhouette.
Pathology
Etiology
There are many etiologies for cardiomegaly:
congestive heart failure...
Article
Enlarged azygos vein
An enlarged/dilated azygos vein may result from a number of physiological as well as pathological causes. The enlarged azygos vein may be seen as a widened right paratracheal/paraspinal stripe on a frontal chest radiograph.
Terminology
Spelling it "azygous" when referring to the vein is incorr...
Article
Inferior vena caval contrast reflux
Reflux of contrast into inferior vena cava can be common findings seen on CT. It is considered a specific but insensitive sign of right-sided heart disease / right heart dysfunction at low contrast injection rates although the usefulness decreases with high injection rates.
Conditions associate...
Article
Enlarged pulmonary trunk on chest radiography (differential)
The differential of an enlarged pulmonary trunk/main pulmonary artery on chest radiography includes:
normal
may appear prominent in young patients especially women
projectional
rotation
lordotic view
rotation of the heart
pectus excavatum
left lower lobe collapse
pulmonary arterial hyp...
Article
Restrictive cardiomyopathy
Restrictive cardiomyopathy is the least common subtype of cardiomyopathy and is characterized by a marked decrease in ventricular compliance.
Clinical presentation
Patients can present with symptoms and signs of left ventricular failure and/or right ventricular failure 9.
Pathology
It is p...
Article
HIV/AIDS (cardiovascular manifestations)
Cardiovascular manifestations are seen with increased frequency in the HIV/AIDS adult population, and include:
pericardial effusions
dilated cardiomyopathy (prevalence 8-30%)
endocarditis: either infective or non-bacterial thrombotic (marantic) which is associated with malignancy or HIV wasti...
Article
Non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema
Non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema is a classification of pulmonary edema where the underlying etiology is not due to left ventricular dysfunction. Causes include:
fluid overload
pulmonary edema with acute asthma
post-obstructive pulmonary edema/postintubation pulmonary edema/negative pressure ...
Article
Carotid pacemaker
Carotid pacemakers, also known as implantable carotid sinus stimulators, are devices that deliver activation energy, via carotid leads, to the carotid baroreceptors. This is sometimes offered for drug-resistant hypertension. The baroreceptors send signals to the brain and the signals are interpr...
Article
Fat containing cardiac lesions
Fat containing cardiac lesions have a limited differential diagnosis. These include 1-4:
normal aging/physiologic: mostly subepicardial, more in the right ventricle (especially right ventricular outflow tract) than left ventricle
lipomatous hypertrophy of the interatrial septum
chronic myocar...
Article
Valvular heart disease
Valvular heart diseases, or cardiac valvulopathies, describe any acquired or congenital disease affecting one or more of the four cardiac valves.
This is a general index article that classifies cardiac valvulopathies depending on which valve(s) is affected 1. See individual articles for in-dept...
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