Diaphragmatic attenuation

[jsterjones]

is Diaphragmatic attenuation serious?

[jsterjones]

thanks all  

[kenkeith]

Conclusion: It is suggested that a male with a flat, wide chest is more prone to posterior myocardial attenuation. If a posterior defect is present in this type of patient it is suggested he be further evaluated to rule out artifact.

>>>>That makes sense.  It may require a TEE to further evaluate.
Thanks for the response.

[ed34]

This should help clear things up...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9110195

[kenkeith]

It is a non-issue if the observation and judgement is correct.  It could be a concern about production of artifacts (obscured visibility) as it may lead to an underinterpretation of true perfusion abnormalities, since the effects of soft tissue attenuation may be overestimated by the observer.  In  other words an artifact can not rule a positive observation but for the artifact. You may want to discuss the matter with our doctor as it may depend on what is being obscurred.

Thanks for the question and if you have any further questions or comments you welcome to respond.  Take care.

Ken

[erijon]

No, it just means that the images were obscured by soft tissue around the diaphragm during a nuclear stress test or by x ray. People that are heavy or very muscular may have additional tissue which blocks the view of the object being imaged.

Hope this helps,

Jon