Page 191 - Clinical Pearls in Cardiology

Chapt er
10 Radiology

1. What is the normal composition of heart shadow on
a PA chest X-ray?
In order to fully assess any abnormalities of the shape of
the heart, it is important to understand the composition
of the normal heart (Fig. 1) shadow on a PA chest X-ray.
The right and left borders of the heart shadow are
constituted as shown below in Figure 2.
The left hilum is normally positioned at a slightly
higher level than the right hilum. Similarly the left
diaphragm is pushed downward by the heart, and so it
is normally positioned at a slightly lower level than the
right diaphragm.

Fig. 1: Normal heart