Non-traumatic non-cardiovascular thoracic emergencies: role of imaging

E. Bicci, G. Grazzini, D. Cozzi, G. Danti, S. Pradella, P. Palumbo, F. Bruno, F. Grassi, F. Dell’ Aversana, F. De Muzio, M.C. Brunese, C. Cutolo, R. Fusco, V. Granata, A. Giovagnoni, V. Miele

Department of Emergency Radiology, Careggi University Hospital, Florence, Italy. dilettacozzi@gmail.com

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• Emergency Medicine
• Radiology

Patients presenting to the emergency with thoracic symptoms could have a wide variety of causes, even if the traumatic and vascular causes are excluded. Therefore, the diagnosis is often a challenge for emergency physicians. Anamnesis, physical examination and laboratory testing need to be integrated with imaging to get a rapid diagnosis and to distinguish among the potential causes. This review discusses the role of diagnostic imaging studies in the emergency setting in patients with non-traumatic non-cardiovascular thoracic symptoms. The use of chest x-ray, bedside lung Ultrasound and Computed Tomography in the diagnosis and care of these patients have been reviewed as well as the common findings on imaging.

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