Chest X-rays in an assessment for angina

The image shows structures in the chest, including the lungs, major airways, heart outline, ribs, and diaphragm. It may be requested when chest discomfort occurs with cough, fever, breathlessness, abnormal breathing sounds, injury, or another clue suggesting a non-coronary cause.

A plain chest X-ray cannot show whether a coronary artery is narrowed and a normal result does not rule out angina or a heart attack. Angina is assessed from the symptom history, examination, and appropriate cardiac tests, which may include an electrocardiogram.

An abnormal image may point toward pneumonia, fluid around the lungs, changes associated with chronic lung disease, or an enlarged heart outline. The finding must be interpreted with symptoms and examination because an image alone may not establish the cause.

Tell the radiographer if you are or could be pregnant. You will usually remove metal objects and clothing that covers the chest, stand against the imaging plate, and briefly hold your breath when instructed. The procedure itself is quick and does not require recovery time.

Discuss the report with the clinician who requested it rather than treating a normal image as clearance to ignore recurring chest symptoms. If discomfort is brought on by activity, describe the trigger, duration, spread, associated symptoms, and response to rest.

Call emergency services for new or severe chest pressure, discomfort that persists or occurs at rest, or symptoms with sweating, nausea, faintness, marked breathlessness, or pain spreading to the arm, jaw, back, or shoulder. An outpatient X-ray appointment is not an appropriate substitute for emergency assessment.

Prompt review is also needed for worsening breathlessness, coughing blood, a high fever with breathing difficulty, or a clear change in established chest symptoms. Urgency depends on the current symptoms, not on whether a prior image was normal.

Ask what diagnosis the chest X-ray is intended to investigate, how and when you will receive the report, and which cardiac tests are still needed. If the report mentions a lung or heart-outline finding, ask what it means in the context of your examination and symptoms.