Abdominal X-ray
The basic principles of the abdominal X-ray examination.
Normal Anatomy
Examine an AXR as if you are standing in front of the patient; so left is right and vice versa.
In a normal AXR, the contours of the psoas muscles are visible. The liver, kidneys, spleen and bladder can in some cases also be identified. The density (= whiteness) difference at the level of these organs is created by the (retro)peritoneal fat tissue. By way of repetition: fat is more lucent (= blacker) on X-rays than soft tissues, in this case the abdominal organs (fig. 4/5).
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drs. A van der Plas (MSK radiologist Maastricht UMC+)
Sources:
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- Khurana et al: Bowel Obstruction Revealed by Multidetector CT. AJR 2002.
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- N.C. Dalrymple et al; Problem Solving in abdominal imaging. 2009
- D. Feldman. The Coffee Bean Sign. Radiology 2000
- J.Q. Ly; The Rigler Sign. Radiology 2003
- Emilio Quaia: Diagnostic Imaging; Radiological Imaging of the kidney. 2011.
- Fred A. Mettler, Jr; Essentials of Radiology 3rd edition (2005)
24/04/2014
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