[Can digital luminescent radiography substitute for conventional x-ray technics in chest radiography?]

The image quality of digital luminescent radiography (DLR) is sufficient for routine biplane chest radiography and for follow-up studies of heart size, pulmonary congestion, coin lesions, infiltrations, atelectasis, pleural effusions, and mediastinal and hilar lymph node enlargement. Chest radiography in the intensive care unit may in most cases be performed using the DLR technique. There is no need for repeat shots because of incorrect exposure, and the position of catheters, tubes, pacemakers, drains and artificial heart valves, the mediastinum, and the retrocardiac areas of the left lung are more confidently assessed on the edge-enhanced DLR films than on conventional films. Nevertheless, DLR is somewhat inferior to conventional film-screen radiography of the chest as it can demonstrate or rule out subtle pulmonary interstitial disease less confidently. There is no reduction of radiation exposure of the chest in DLR compared with modern film-screen systems. As a consequence, DLR is presently not in a position to replace traditional film-screen radiography of the chest completely.