Chest X-Ray

A chest Reference X-ray Opens New Window is a picture of the chest that shows your heart, lungs, airway, blood vessels, and Reference lymph nodes Opens New Window Reference Opens New Window. A chest X-ray also shows the bones of your spine and chest, including your Reference breastbone Opens New Window Reference Opens New Window, your ribs, your Reference collarbone Opens New Window Reference Opens New Window, and the upper part of your Reference spine Opens New Window Reference Opens New Window. A chest X-ray is the most common imaging test or X-ray used to find problems inside the chest.

A chest X-ray can help find some problems with the organs and structures inside the chest. Usually two pictures are taken, one from the back of the chest and another from the side. In an emergency when only one X-ray picture is taken, a front view is usually done. Doctors may not always get the information they need from a chest X-ray to find the cause of a problem. If the results from a chest X-ray are not normal or do not give enough information about the chest problem, more specific X-rays or other tests may be done, such as a Reference computed tomography (CT) Opens New Window scan, an Reference ultrasound Opens New Window, an Reference echocardiogram Opens New Window, or an Reference MRI Opens New Window scan.

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