Thoracoabdominal sign

Last revised by Máté Cs. Jánvári on 23 Oct 2019

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Goel A, Jánvári M, Sarangi P, et al. Thoracoabdominal sign. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 24 Apr 2024) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-27152

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-27152

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/27152

rID:

27152

Article created:

22 Jan 2014, Ayush Goel ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Ayush Goel had no recorded disclosures.

View Ayush Goel's current disclosures

Last revised:

23 Oct 2019, Máté Cs. Jánvári

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Máté Cs. Jánvári had no recorded disclosures.

View Máté Cs. Jánvári's current disclosures

Revisions:

6 times, by 6 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Chest

Sections:

Signs

Tags:

cases, refs

Synonyms:

Thoraco abdominal sign
Abdomino thoracic sign
Thoraco-abdominal sign

Thoracoabdominal sign, a variation of the silhouette sign, is a frontal chest radiograph sign which helps to localize a thoracic lesion.

Since the posterior costophrenic sulcus is more caudal than the anterior lung, a thoracic lesion must be posterior if its caudal end is visible below the dome of diaphragm.

And also, convergence of the inferolateral border of the mass towards the spine suggests that the mass is probably entirely intrathoracic (negative thoracoabdominal sign), whereas lack of convergence or divergence indicates a segment silhouetted by the soft tissue density of the abdomen (positive thoracoabdominal sign).