Retrospective comparison of the chest x-ray and ct scans requested from the emergency department

Aim: In this study, we aim to investigate the effectiveness of the chest radiography in immediate diagnosis against the advancing technology by comparing the chest radiography and thorax computerized tomography (CT) scan results of patients in emergency room. Material and Method: This study was undertaken by investigation of the patient records who admitted within the period of six months between 01.09.2014 and 28.02.2015 to the Bülent Ecevit University, Medical Faculty Emergency Service. 199 patients over 18 years old who had both thorax CT scan and chest radiography were included in the study. For the statistical analysis SPSS 19.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) computer program was used. Results: The most frequent diagnosis in 199 patients who were taken into study group was pneumonia with 38.2 % (76) occurrence. In addition, the rate of patients whom an accurate chest radiography technique performed was 31% (62). When considering all patients, there was no statistically significant difference (p>0.05) between both imaging methods in terms of determining displacement of trachea, pneumothorax, parenchymal consolidation, increase in cardiothoracic ratio, aorticopulmonary LAP, diaphragmatic hernia, free air in abdomen (in the sections included in image), pleural thickening, parenchymal cysts, parenchymal mass, parenchymal cavity, parenchymal atelectasis, and bone fracture rates. Conclusion: When immediate diagnosis is required, investigating the imaging findings, chest radiography and thorax CT scan findings are consistent if appropriate imaging technique was used. However, chest radiography evaluated in the emergency service setting is often performed by inappropriate techniques.