Lower Lung Field Tuberculosis1

,, h the lower lobe. It was not until the 1920stat the influx of reports became more apparent and informative (3-6). With the use of posteroante­ rior and lateral roentgenograms, the terminology about the loc~tion of the lesions became more specific, and ias late as 1946 some writers used the term "basal tuberculosis." The terms "lower lobe tuberculosis" and "lower lung field tuber­ culosis" have seen more usage recently. It is here that the writers wish to explain why the over-all heading of lower lung field tuber­ culosis was chosen, and what is meant by this terminology. The lower lung fields are considered that area on a posteroanterior chest film that ex­ tends below an imaginary horizontal line traced across the hila and including the parahilar re­ gions. In the early part of this study, in the 1930's and early 1940's, lateral films were taken so infrequently that the exact topographic loca­ tion of the lesion was difficult; therefore, the term lower lung field tuberculosis is preferred. Those patients selected in the last 20 years had lower 10be disease which was confirmed by lateral films and/or topographic studies.