[Thoracic imaging in the elderly]

In our hospital, 30% of plain chest radiographs are performed in patients over 70. Somewhat surprisingly, few papers specifically dealing with the aging lung are available in the radiological literature. It is obvious however that the differential diagnosis of a chest lesion is not the same if the patient is 40 or 70. A false positive diagnosis is a frequent potential mistake in aging subjects, for example: chondral calcification versus pulmonary nodule, hyperinflation versus emphysema, "normal aging" bronchial and tracheal calcification versus hypercalcemia, diaphragmatic defect versus tumor, diaphragmatic pseudotumor versus lymph node, false diagnosis of aortic knob dissection, false diagnosis of syphilitic aortitis, inaccurate CT-detection of valvular and coronary calcifications, confusion between valvular and annular mitral calcification. Much work is still needed to exploit CT in its clinical applications for the aging lung.