January 2012 Case of the Month

Michael B. Gotway, MD

Associate Editor Imaging

Clinical History

A 69-year-old woman with no significant past medical history presented with progressive shortness of breath. A chest radiograph (Figure 1) was obtained.

Figure 1. Frontal chest radiograph.

How would you describe the findings on the chest radiograph (Figure 1)?

1. Multifocal consolidation
2. Blunting of the costophrenic angles suggesting pleural effusion
3. Multifocal reticulonodular opacities
4. Bilateral cavitary lung consolidation
5. Miliary nodular opacities

Reference as: Gotway MB. January 2012 case of the month. Southwest J Pulm Crit Care 2012;4:12-18. (Click here for a PDF version)