[Radiologic-anatomic correlation of thoracic vertebrae and rib shadows in chest digital radiograph]

The purpose of this study was to provide an introduction to parsing the radiologic appearance of thoracic vertebrae and ribs. In the study, the radiologic-anatomic correlation technique was applied to promote further understanding of normal chest radiographs. The thoracic vertebrae and ribs of chest radiographs were compared with each macroscopic radiologic and computed tomography (CT) image. The rib parsed the linear shadow of the body of the rib. The macroscopic and radiologic images of thoracic vertebrae and ribs were evaluated to explain their normal radiologic findings. The results of such correlation were summarized as follows: 1) The lamina of the vertebral arch was visualized due to anterior rotation of the upper thoracic vertebrae. 2) The density ratio of the thoracic-vertebrae shadow was almost the same in the vertebral body and vertebral arch. 3) The linear shadow superimposed on the rib corresponded to the inferior margin of the rib. The radiologic-anatomic correlation technique was useful to evaluate normal radiologic findings, and the study was useful to radiological technologists.