CXR Case 010
80 year old female presents with palpitations. She has been more breathless recently and has been taking her inhalers more frequently.
Describe and interpret this CXR
CHEST X-RAY INTERPRETATION
The lung fields are hyperinflated with flattened hemidiagragms consistent with overinflation from airways disease (probable COPD).
*There is a safety pin that appears to be in the stomach, or external artifact*
CLINICAL CORRELATION
This lady is having arrhythmias and tachycardia from excessive beta-2 agonist use (short and long acting).
*A history of safety pin ingestion should also be taken…*
CLINICAL PEARLS
Chronic poorly controlled asthma can present as a COPD-like picture, even in never smokers.
The long term airways inflammation leads to airway fibrosis and chronic airways limitation with over-inflation.
TOP 150 CXR SERIES
Prof Fraser Brims Curtin Medical School, acute and respiratory medicine specialist, immediate care in sport doc, ex-Royal Navy, academic| Top 100 CXR | Google Scholar | ICIS Course ANZ
2 Comments
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
I think that the pulmonary arteries appear enlarged with pruning of the peripheral pulmonary vasculature suggestive of secondary pulmonary hypertension?
Simon, you are probaly right! I was disctracted by the ingested safety pin!