What Is Chest X Ray?

A chest x ray is a painless, noninvasive test that creates pictures of the structures inside your chest, such as your heart and lungs. "Noninvasive" means that no surgery is done and no instruments are inserted into your body.

This test is done to find the cause of symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest pain, chronic cough (a cough that lasts a long time), and fever.

Overview

X rays are electromagnetic waves. They use ionizing radiation to create pictures of the inside of your body.

A chest x ray takes pictures of the inside of your chest. The different tissues in your chest absorb different amounts of radiation. Your ribs and spine are bony and absorb radiation well. They normally appear light on a chest x ray. Your lungs, which are filled with air, normally appear dark. A disease in the chest that changes how radiation is absorbed also will appear on a chest x ray.

Chest x rays help doctors diagnose conditions such as pneumonia, heart failure, lung cancer, lung tissue scarring, and sarcoidosis (sar-koy-DO-sis). Doctors also may use chest x rays to see how well treatments for health problems are working. Also, doctors often use chest x rays before surgery to look at the structures in the chest.

Chest x ray is the most common x-ray test used to diagnose health problems.

Outlook

Chest x rays have few risks. The amount of radiation used in a chest x ray is very small. Sometimes, a lead apron may be used to protect certain parts of your body from the radiation.

A chest x ray gives out a radiation dose similar to the amount of radiation you're naturally exposed to over 10 days. Chest x rays use a smaller amount of radiation than other imaging tests.

February 2008