ABC of Reading Chest X-Ray

A
B

G
C
D
E

A Airway (midline, patent)

B Bones (eg, fractures, lytic lesions)
C Cardiac silhouette size
D Diaphragm (eg, flat or elevated hemidiaphragm)
E

Edges (borders) of the heart (to rule out lingular and left middle lobe pneumonia or infiltrates)

Fields (lung fields well inflated; no effusions, infiltrates, or nodules noted)

G Gastric bubble (present, obscured, absent)

H Hilum (nodes, masses)
I

Instrumentation (eg, lines, tubes)

Jeffrey M. Edmondson, MD
Harker Heights, Texas
Published by: Mohammad Al-Marhoon (dr.marhoon@gmail.com)
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