Through chest and thoracic imaging, we see inside your heart, lungs, blood vessels, and other tissues like muscle and bone in your chest. This can help us screen or diagnose health issues. It also allows us to figure out what’s causing symptoms.

Types of imaging:

• X-ray: This test uses radiation to create images of bones and some soft tissues inside the body. Computed tomography (CT) scans use X-rays and a computer to make detailed cross-sectional images. Fluoroscopy uses X-rays to create real-time video.
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): This scan uses magnets and radio waves to create detailed images without radiation.
• Ultrasound: This test uses high-frequency sound waves to create real-time images of organs and tissues.
• Nuclear imaging: This scan uses radioactive material to show how organs and tissues function. A positron emission tomography (PET) scan can visualize how active parts of the body are, either areas of growth (cancer) or death (after a heart attack). Gamma-ray scans are another type of nuclear scan that uses different radiation.

You may need heart, lung, and chest imaging for sudden problems, injury, or trauma. Your doctor may also order a scan to figure out the cause of pain or other symptoms.  

Symptoms that may require imaging include: 

• Shortness of breath (dyspnea)
• Chest pain or pressure
• Irregular heartbeat (palpitations)
• Swelling in legs (edema) or fluid retention
• Persistent cough or coughing up blood (hemoptysis)
• Wheezing or asthma-like symptoms
• Fainting or near-fainting (syncope)

We use imaging to prepare for surgery, plan radiation for cancer patients, and find infections like pneumonia.

Heart diseases we can study with imaging include:

• Heart valve issues
• Diagnose a heart attack
• Blood vessel diseases
• Congestive heart failure
• Plaque in the arteries (atherosclerosis)

Lung diseases we study with imaging include:

• Asthma
• Emphysema
• COPD

Heart, lung, and chest screening

Screenings look for problems before they have symptoms. Getting screenings can help you get care before you need more significant interventions. 

• Lung cancer screening: A low-dose lung CT scan creates a detailed 3D picture of your lungs to look for growths.
• Coronary calcium scan: A CT scan measures calcium in the walls of your coronary arteries. Doctors often use it with other tests as a part of cardiac screening.

Heart, lung, and chest imaging tests

We use imaging and radiology tests to diagnose problems in the heart, lungs, and chest. 

• Echocardiogram: An ultrasound that checks for blood flow and structural problems in the heart. We also use it before and after a cardiac stress test.
• Coronary CT angiogram: A CT scan that uses dye to create a detailed 3D view of your coronary arteries. It shows narrowing, blockages, or plaque to diagnose coronary artery disease.
• Cardiac and chest MRI: This scan shows detailed images of your heart and chest tissues, including blood flow. It’s often a follow-up to a chest CT scan.
• Nuclear cardiac or myocardial perfusion scan: We use radioactive tracers to find coronary artery disease and heart muscle issues. Dim areas on special gamma-ray scans are getting less blood.
• Cardiac PET scan: This scan shows how your heart works. It uses a radioactive tracer to highlight heart disease and poor blood flow.
• CT pulmonary angiography: A CT scan and a dye create 3D images of your lungs.
• Pulmonary ventilation and perfusion scan (V/Q scan): These are 2 separate nuclear scan tests. The first measures breathing, the second measures blood flow in the lungs. It can find blood clots in your lungs and other lung diseases.

Heart, lung, and chest procedures

Imaging-based or assisted procedures help us treat problems in your heart, lungs, and chest.

The bronchoscopy is the most common lung imaging procedure. It uses a tube with a camera and light to see inside your airways. There are 2 types:

• A flexible bronchoscope can find the cause of lung problems and take tissue samples to check for cancer. The doctor can also suck up mucus and keep your airway open. We also use it for bronchoalveolar lavage, which uses a fluid wash to take a lung sample.
• A rigid bronchoscope can remove something stuck in your airway or insert a stent to keep your airway open. We can also treat tumors or bleeding.

There are many imaging-based procedures used on the heart. Many are catheter-based, which means we use imaging guidance to thread a very thin wire through the veins into the heart. These are minimally invasive heart procedures, typically done in a “cath” lab.

• Coronary catheter angiography: We inject contrast dye into your heart’s coronary artery. This helps us see and treat diseased, damaged, or blocked blood vessels in the heart and chest. It can help us plan coronary bypass surgery.
• Transcatheter aortic valve implantation: This is a procedure to replace the aortic valve through a catheter. We can repair or add a new valve or a pacemaker if needed.
• Watchman device: This device fixes atrial fibrillation by closing a pouch in your heart, reducing the risk of stroke.
• Interventional heart procedures: Catheter-based procedures can also fix heart defects, including valve problems, and help plan and place heart devices, such as pacemakers or stents.