Of the modalities for cardiovascular imaging, the oldest, simplest, and most
affordable is chest radiography. One of the challenges with chest radiography is that
some practitioners who request this investigation method still believe that they should
rely on the specialist to provide them with reports of the images obtained. In
developing countries, it is a common experience that the patient needs to return to the
hospital or the center where the investigation was conducted and be on the queue to
obtain the physical report. Thus, the administrative and logistical efforts become
encumbrances that patients and the relatives of the extremely unwell have to bear.
When the report on the radiograph, like chest radiograph, indicates “Normal chest
findings” the patient either has a sense of relief (as a part of preemployment medical
examination) or occasionally feels frustrated (like a patient for whom the physician
expected a cardiac basis for their symptoms) as such patients may consider their money
wasted for an investigation that was “unnecessary.” Inasmuch as a negative finding
gives relief to the physician, it sometimes nudges the physician to request further
investigations to find the reason for the illness. Pre-investigation, it is important for a
physician to communicate the possible findings with the patient or well client. After the
test, when the patient returns for a review, the doctor should ensure that the findings are
explained to the patient, particularly the patient who shows interest in knowing as
much as possible from the test results. Part of the above scenarios is why this brief
Chapter on the cardiovascular system attends to medical imaging and approaches it
from an easy-to-understand and easy-to-communicate stance. This way, medical
students appreciate the relationship of radiology and clinical care with gross human
anatomy, a pre-clinical subject in the medical school.
Keywords: Chest radiography, Computed tomography (CT) scanning, Electrocardiography, Magnetic resonance imaging, MRI.
