Gross Anatomic Changes in the Lungs

Abstract

IN interpreting an x-ray plate the roentgenologist conceives in his mind's eye a picture of the actual condition of the organ or tissues, as translated from the shadow into a visual image on the retina. He is, or should be, therefore, familiar with the pathologic alterations underlying the structures under observation which necessarily implies some knowledge of the various morbid processes and their effects on the several organ systems and separate organs. We must bear with the pathologist in his pardonable assumption that pathologic anatomy and histology are the groundwork for scientific diagnosis and treatment of disease and should constitute an important part of the training of the internist, the surgeon, and particularly the roentgenologist. Yet, even the specialist in pathology is not often in a position to get a close view of diseased organs or tissues as they actually are in the living pulsating individual. When seen in the morgue at the autopsy table, or in the laboratory after operative removal, ...