The Thorax — Lungs, Pleura and Chest Wall

The standard chest radiograph shows the lungs so well that CT has so far found few applications in patients with lung disease in spite of the striking way in which the lung fields are displayed. The capacity of CT to detect finer variations in density than conventional radiography does, however, mean that CT can detect small lesions such as metastases or minimal parenchymal changes when these are not visible or only suspected on the standard radiograph. CT may also occasionally help to clarify the nature of abnormal lung shadowing.