Case: Chest radiograph #12429320
Chest Intermediate
Read this radiograph systematically before revealing the answer. What is the main abnormality?
Image: Hellerhoff via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source · resized and converted to WebP
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Answer: Pectus excavatum
What to look for in pectus excavatum
- Indistinct right heart border that mimics right middle lobe disease.
- Heart displaced to the left and sometimes rotated.
- Anterior ribs sloping steeply downwards (horizontal posterior, vertical anterior ribs).
- On the lateral film, the sternum is depressed posteriorly towards the spine.
Description by the image author (may be in another language): Mild form of Pectus excavatum in plain chest X-ray lateral view.
Educational case. The diagnosis comes from the image's documented source; the "what to look for" list describes the condition in general and is not a report of this individual image.
