Improving the diagnostic quality of thoracic radiographs of dogs and cats

Evaluating a series of thoracic radiographs may be one of the most challenging imaging tasks confronting the small animal clinicians in their daily practice. Pathological changes can sometimes be quite subtle, while at other times they can be confusing in their complexity. Radiographs that are not of optimal quality only add to this confusion, either by hiding pathological changes or creating artifacts that resemble pathology. In the ideal world, every thoracic radiograph would be perfect and the clinician's task would be easier. In the real world, patients with intrathoracic disease can be high risk and difficult to position, and a balance needs to be struck between patient safety and diagnostic quality. This article describes how to get the most out of thoracic radiographs by improving the diagnostic quality of radiographic films.