Silhouette sign - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

6/24/15, 1:50

Silhouette sign
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In radiology, the silhouette sign refers to the loss of normal borders

between thoracic structures.[1] It is usually caused by an intrathoracic
radiopaque mass that touches the border of the heart or aorta.[2] In other
words, it is difficult to make out the borders of a particular structure normal or otherwise - because it is next to another dense structure, both
of which will appear white on a standard X-ray.[3] It may occur, for
example, in right middle lobe syndrome, where the right heart margin is
obscured, and in right lower lobe pneumonia, where the border of the
diaphragm on the right side is obscured, while the right heart margin
remains distinct.[2] Silhouette sign is very useful in localizing lung
lesions as all structures forming cardiac silhouette are in contact with a
specific portion of the lung.

External links
The Silhouette Sign Revisited
(http://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/produkte.asp?
A) Normal chest radiograph; B) Q
fever pneumonia affecting the right
lower and middle lobes. Note the loss
of the normal radiographic silhouette
(contour) between the affected lung
and its right heart border as well as
between the affected lung and its right
diaphragm border. This phenomenon
is called the silhouette sign.

Aktion=ShowPDF&ArtikelNr=29469&Ausgabe=226558&ProduktNr=224278&filename=29469.pdf),
Vernon J. Louw, Adrian Schmidt, Chris T. Bolliger. Lung Unit, Department of Internal Medicine,
Tygerberg Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa.
The silhouette sign and possible mechanisms (http://myweb.lsbu.ac.uk/dirt/museum/rootsilh.html), Ian
Maddison Nov 1994, revised Nov. 2007.
Silhouette Sign (http://fitsweb.uchc.edu/student/selectives/mirna/SilhouetteDream.html)

References
1. Silouette Sign (http://www.fpnotebook.com/Rad/XRay/SlhtSgn.htm), 2008, Family Practice Notebook, LLC. Retrieved
9 February 2010.
2. The silhouette sign and possible mechanisms (http://myweb.lsbu.ac.uk/dirt/museum/rootsilh.html), Ian Maddison Nov
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silhouette_sign

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Silhouette sign - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

6/24/15, 1:50

1994, revised Nov. 2007. Retrieved 9 February 2010.

3. Corne et al. (2002). Chest X-Ray Made Easy. Churchill Livingstone. ISBN 0-443-07008-3.

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Categories: Radiologic signs Medical sign stubs
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