chest x-ray

Meaning of chest x-ray: A chest x-ray uses a brief pulse of radiation to produce an image of the lungs, heart, and bones of the chest for evaluation.

Definition of chest x-ray

A chest x-ray is an imaging test that uses a brief pulse of radiation passed through the chest to produce a picture of the structures inside, including the lungs, heart, major blood vessels, and the bones of the chest and upper spine. Dense structures such as bone appear light on the resulting image, while air filled spaces such as healthy lung tissue appear dark.

A chest x-ray is one of the most commonly performed imaging tests and is used to evaluate symptoms such as cough, chest pain, or shortness of breath, to look for evidence of infection, fluid, or a mass within the chest, and to check the position of certain medical devices, such as a central line or breathing tube.

Because a chest x-ray produces a single flattened image of overlapping three dimensional structures, additional imaging, such as a CT scan, is sometimes needed when a finding requires closer or more detailed evaluation than a standard x-ray can provide.