Chest x-ray

A chest X-ray is a picture of the chest that shows your child's heart, lungs, airway, large blood vessels, and lymph nodes. Chest X-rays can also show the bones of your child's spine and chest.

A chest X-ray is done to:

• Help find the cause of common symptoms such as a cough, shortness of breath, or chest pain.
• Find lung conditions—such as pneumonia, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), collapsed lung (pneumothorax), or cystic fibrosis—and monitor treatment for these conditions.
• Find some heart problems, such as an enlarged heart, heart failure, and problems causing fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema), and to monitor treatment for these conditions.
• Look for problems from a chest injury, such as rib fractures or lung damage.
• Find foreign objects, such as coins or other small pieces of metal, in the tube to the stomach (esophagus), the airway, or the lungs. A chest X-ray may not be able to see food, nuts, or wood fibers.
• See if a tube, catheter, or other medical device has been placed in the proper position in an airway, the heart, blood vessels of the chest, or the stomach.

Two X-ray views of the chest are usually taken. One view is taken from the back. The other view is taken from the side.

• You stand with your chest against an X-ray plate for the pictures.
• You will need to hold very still while the X-ray is taken. You may be asked to hold your breath for a few seconds.

In general, there's nothing you have to do before this test, unless your doctor tells you so. You can tell your child that they won't feel any pain from the chest X-ray itself.

In an emergency, the results of a chest X-ray can be available within a few minutes for review by your doctor. If it is not an emergency, results are usually ready in 1 or 2 days.

Normal:

• The lungs look normal in size and shape, and the lung tissue looks normal. No growths or other masses can be seen within the lungs. The spaces surrounding the lungs (pleural spaces) also look normal.
• The heart looks normal in size and shape, and the heart tissue looks normal. The blood vessels leading to and from the heart also are normal in size, shape, and appearance.
• The bones including the spine and ribs look normal.
• The diaphragm looks normal in shape and location.
• No abnormal collection of fluid or air is seen, and no foreign objects are seen.
• All tubes, catheters, or other medical devices are in their correct positions in the chest.

Abnormal:

• An infection, such as pneumonia or tuberculosis, is present.
• Problems such as a tumor, injury, or a condition such as edema from heart failure may be seen. In some cases, more X-rays or other tests may be needed to see the problem clearly.
• A problem such as an enlarged heart—which could be caused by heart damage, heart valve disease, or fluid around the heart—is seen. Or a problem of the blood vessels, such as an enlarged aorta, an aneurysm, or hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis), is seen.
• Fluid is seen in the lungs (pulmonary edema) or around the lungs (pleural effusion), or air is seen in the spaces around a lung (pneumothorax).
• Broken bones (fractures) are seen in the rib cage, collarbone, shoulder, or spine.
• Enlarged lymph nodes are seen.
• A foreign object is seen in the esophagus, breathing tubes, or lungs.
• A tube, catheter, or other medical device looks like it has moved out of the correct position.