Overlying the cardiac silhouette is a pair of wires for an epicardial pacemaker.  The patient had a coronary artery bypass graft procedure several years ago and required an epicardial pacemaker in the postoperative period.  The leads were left in and the pacemaker is now gone.  The wires are unique to this type of pacemaker as they have the button-like attachment to the epicardial surface.  They are typically used in the postoperative period and are indicated for temporary use; their function deteriorates in a matter of days to weeks (1).

The wires were somewhat confusing to our treatment team until we reviewed his chart and did a little internet searching!

Author:  Russell Jones, MD

References

1.  Batra AS, Seshadri B.  Postoperative temporary epicardial pacing:  When, how, and why?  Ann Ped Card 2008, 1(2): 120-125. 

This patient has a lot of hardware in his chest.

1. He has a tracheostomy present
2. Surgical clips can be seen on the aortic arch
3. This is an artificial aortic valve
4. Sternal wires for closure after his aortic valve replacement

Here is a link to an interesting image the New England Journal of Medicine published in 2005 that shows a person with replacements in all 4 valves:

Four Valver!

Author:  Russell Jones, MD

References

Bijl M, van den Brink R.  Images in Clinical Medicine:  Four Artificial Heart Valves.  N Engl J Med 2005; 353: 712

This patient has a history of Ogilvie syndrome and this abdominal xray helps support this diagnosis.  Ogilvie syndrome is an acute pseudo-obstruction of the GI tract without a mechanical obstruction.  Xray will often show massive (>10cm) dilitation of the colon, usually on the cecal side.  This patient’s cecum measures out to be 21 cm!

Brief summary of Ogilvie Syndrome courtesy of Wikipedia:

Ogilvie

Author:  Russell Jones, MD

This was an interesting case because of the post-intubation conundrum we faced.  The patient came in peri-arrest from hypoxia, GCS was 3 with very poor respiratory effort and oxygen saturation of 60%.  Therefore we were unable to get a great respiratory exam prior to intubation.  Bag-valve mask ventilation with 100% oxygen did not improve the situation and the patient was very difficult to bag due to obviously increased airway pressure.  The intubation was very difficult and as we were checking for bilateral breath sounds post-intubation, we noticed none on the left side.  Capnography color change was good, no gastric sounds were heard, and moisture was in the tube.  Pulling back the endotracheal tube did not change the lack of left sided lung sounds.  The patient continued to be difficult to bag with hypoxia very slowly improving from initial saturations in the 60s now to the mid-70s.  At this point all of our heart rates were around 150 and we had that sinking feeling that occurs when oxygenation doesn’t improve after intubation.

For a few minutes we were concerned about pneumothorax on the left side.  As you can tell from the xray our external landmarks such as tracheal deviation, jugular venous distention were severely limited by body habitus.  Bedside ultrasound using the linear probe was limited as well and no lung-sliding was visualized.  We basically couldn’t identify what we were seeing on ultrasound (later we found out the lung was completely collapsed and we may have been seeing diaphragm, heart, and non-aerated lung).  In the heat-of-the-moment the ED treatment team was perplexed on how to rule out a tension pneumothorax in this situation.

Luckily the patient’s oxygenation creeped above 90% and the patient didn’t have any blood pressure problems.  We took a deep breath, relaxed, and made the decision to obtain the above portable chest xray before performing empiric thoracostomy.  This turned out to be the correct decision as she had a complete obstruction of the left mainstem bronchus from aspiration of a peanut-butter sandwich.  CT chest (above) shows the obstruction at the level of the carina with collapse of the left lung.  Bronchoscopy was performed and a large amount of peanut butter, jelly, and sandwich fragments were removed with improvement in the patient’s chest xray post-procedure.

Moral of the story:  not all patients have pneumothorax or a malpositioned endotracheal tube when lung sounds are absent.

A brief alternative differential diagnosis when a patient has absent lung sounds on one side:

1. Mainstem bronchus obstruction or compression
2. Diaphragmatic hernia
3. Large pleural effusion
4. History of pneumonectomy

I’ve noticed a trend in ED training toward increased reliance on bedside ultrasound.  It is important to realize that if you are going to use ultrasound in the resuscitation decisions such as this, make sure that you are seeing something that reliably indicates the pathology you are seeking to correct.  We did not see signs that supported or refuted pneumothorax and thus the ultrasound was non-diagnostic.  I apologize for not having the ultrasound images.  We forgot to save them as we all had that panicked feeling when you’ve intubated someone and their pulse ox isn’t improving very fast!

Author:  Russell Jones, MD

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

This is an acute abdominal series showing free intraperitoneal air in the right upper quadrant.  Notice that it cannot be determined if the patient has free air on the supine view (Image 1).  This is because the air is layering to the anterior portion of the peritoneal cavity.  In order to reveal air in the peritoneum, one must layer it to one of the sides (Image 2 – patient is laying on their left side and the air flows to the right upper quadrant) or upright (Image 3 – patient is upright and the air layers under the diaphragm, in this case the right side). 

I like the acute abdominal series to look for free air in the setting of a highly concerning exam.  You can also just do an upright chest xray.  They are quick and if free air is found it will likely be a study that will change the patient’s course; surgery will in most cases take the patient to the operating room with just an xray for exploratory laparotomy.  In our case, however, surgery was tied up for a bit and this allowed an extra 1/2 hour ED stay, I pursued non-contrast CT to further identify what was going on:

Image 4

Image 5

This CT shows findings highly concerning for a perforated duodenal ulcer.  In Image 4 you can see the air just above the liver edge anteriorly along with free intraperitoneal fluid layering on the side of the liver and spleen.  She also has an aortic aneurysm.  Image 5 shows an area of free air and stranding near the distal duodenum.  Laparotomy revealed a perforated duodenal ulcer, the aortic aneurysm was incidental. 

Author:  Russell Jones, MD

This patient has a knee dislocation with an avulsion fragment seen in the joint space.  The tibia/fibula are both rotated facing medial with the patella displaced to the medial side as well.  Lateral projections were unable to be obtained due to the patient being very uncomfortable however clinically the tibia seemed to be posterior to the distal femur. 

MRI later showed complete tears of the anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments as well as the medial collateral and fibular collateral ligaments.  It also showed the tibial plateu fracture and a compression fracture of the distal femur.

What other imaging would you recommend for this patient in the emergent setting?

Author:  Russell Jones, MD

This Chest Xray demonstrates a large pneumothorax on the right side with tension phenomena.  Tension Pneumothorax is when the air trapped in the pleural space places pressure on the mediastinal structures and you see a shift of the mediastinum in the opposite direction.

Physiologically this means that the anatomy has changed and blood flow back to the central circulation is limited by not only mechanical obstruction but increased intrathoracic pressure.

After thoracostomy:

Remember, tension pneumothorax is one of the 5h’s and 5T’s that cause cardiac arrest.  However, its unclear if this is a post CPR pneumothorax or if this was the cause of the cardiac arrest.  You can see some deformities suspicious for rib fractures mid-way down the right lung fields.  There was no indication of trauma in the patient’s presentation so these may be old or a complication of chest compressions…this could be a source of pneumothorax as well as the positive-pressure from endotracheal intubation.  Incidentally, the chest tube is inserted slightly far with kinking in the upper lung but it appears to be working with reexpansion and relief of the tension phenomena.

Author:  Russell Jones, MD

Image Contributor:  Ryan Hunt, MD

Great example of a lunate dislocation!

The key portion of the film above is the half-moon shaped bone (Lunate) which is dislocated in the palmar direction and has a “spilled teacup” appearance (it is rotated from its normal position with the concave portion of the bone facing the distal fingers).

The AP view on this patient is also interesting.  It shows a “Piece of pie” sign, also frequently found with lunate dislocation.  This is an abnormal triangular hyperdensity seen in the lunate on the AP projection (can also be seen in perilunate dislocation).

The distinguishing feature of this radiograph to differentiate between perilunate and lunate dislocation is the alignment on the lateral projection.  The capitate and distal radius are still aligned, the lunate is dislocated.  In a perilunate dislocation the lunate will not have a “spilled teacup” rotation and the capitate will be dorsally displaced off the alignment of the distal radius.  An example of a perilunate dislocation:

Tip:  on lateral wrist xrays, always draw a line through the distal radius, lunate, and capitate.  It should look like an apple sitting in a teacup on a saucer.

Author:  Russell Jones, M.D.

Image Contributor:  Dane Stevenson, M.D.

There is no fracture or dislocation.  However, on the proximal fibula you can see a mass…what is that?

This is an example of an osteochondroma.  Osteochondromas are benign tumors of the growth plate that account for roughly 10-15% of all bone tumors.  They are a common incidental finding and occur mostly on the lower extremity.  Less frequently they can be seen on an upper extremity, and uncommonly on the spine.  Osteochondromas very rarely (<1%) transform to malignant lesions.

A great summary of osteochondromas can be found at Radiopaedia.org.  Their plain film appearance is described as:

“An osteochondroma can be either sessile or pedunculated, and is seen in the metaphyseal region typically projecting away from the epiphysis. There is often associated broadening of the metaphysis from which it arises. The cartilage cap is variable in appearance. It may be thin and difficult to identify, or thick with rings and arcs calcification and irregular subchondral bone.

New cortical irregularity or continued growth after skeletal maturity has been reached, as well as frankly aggressive features (e.g. bony destruction, large soft tissue component, metastases) are all worrying for malignant transformation.”

Author:  Russell Jones, M.D.

References

1.  Niknejad MT, Gaillard F, et al.  Osteochondroma.  http://radiopaedia.org/articles/osteochondroma

There are several ways to image acetabular fractures:

1.  Standard AP pelvis films:  this is a good screening imaging modality

2.  ”Judet” films:  xray images that can further delineate the extent, type of acetabular fracture.  wikiRadiography Judet Views

3.  CT pelvis with 3-dimensional reconstruction.  This is the “cadillac” of imaging that orthopedic surgeons get the most pre-operative information from.  Judet Views have largely been replaced by this imaging modality as it offers much more information for the surgeon.  On a PACS radiology system the images can be rotated, flipped to see the extent of the injury as if you were holding the pelvis in your hand.  Its pretty awesome.

Keep in mind that fractures of the acetabulum can be occult.  If you obtain plain films that look normal and the patient cannot bear weight, consider CT imaging for a better look.  MRI can also be of value much like an occult femoral neck fracture.

Here is a free, extensive discussion of imaging acetabular fractures (including a discussion about types of acetabular fractures) available online from Radiographics:

Acetabular Fractures

Author:  Russell Jones, M.D.

References

1.  Judet Views.  http://www.wikiradiography.com/page/Judet+Views

2.  Potok PS, Hopper KD, Umlauf MJ.  Fractures of the Acetabulum:  Imaging, Classification, and Understanding.  Radiographics. 1995 Jan; 15(1), 7-23.