Evaluatation Of Rib Variations In Chest Radiograph

Abstract

Rib variations are usually incidental findings on imaging studies and are rarely symptomatic. If in adequately evaluated they are easily overlooked as most of the X-ray is aimed at evaluating the lung parenchyma. Trauma related lesions might usually be misinterpreted as rib variations and sometimes rib lesions may mimic a variant of rib and radiologists should be familiar with a number of normal variants of the ribs to avoid mistaking them for an abnormality. In this article we will discuss and illustrate variety of anatomical rib variants and their incidence in this given population. Anatomical rib variants include developmental deformities, cervical rib, Bifid (forked), fused rib and hypertrophied transverse process of C7 be used. The aim of our study is to have a comprehensive evidence-based morphological assessment of normal anatomical variations of ribs and their prevalence in this population. A Retrospective study of Chest radiographs of 1000 adults who visited our hospital for a routine check-up or for various medical examinations from September 1st 2018 to September 30th 2018, were consecutively reviewed for normal variations of rib. In our study of 1000 radiographs (Male 652 and female 348), there are 10 cervical ribs, 5 bifid ribs, 16 cases of hypertrophied transverse process and 3 fused rib. Thus in conclusion, the knowledge of incidence of normal anatomical variations of ribs and their appearance in a given population is important for radiologist as it avoids any misinterpretation of these relatively normal variants and signals a possibility of neurovascular compression if clinically relevant.