Quality assurance of paediatric lateral chest radiographs.

Introduction: Lateral chest radiographs aid in paediatric clinical practice in countries where the diagnosis of primary pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) still relies heavily on the chest radiograph. This study aimed to create a validated quality assurance (QA) tool investigating the diagnostic performance of this projection by applying this to a database of lateral chest radiographs in children with suspected PTB.

Method: The QA tool was built to include a compilation of criteria from the different sources, accompanied by graphic representations and objective measurements where appropriate.

Optic neuritis: A South African hospital-based prospective study protocol.

Background: Optic neuritis is a relatively common disease with an estimated lifetime risk of 0.6 per 1000; the estimated prevalence is 1-5 per 100 000/year. It occurs because of inflammation of the optic nerve from a variety of causes.

CT pulmonary angiography findings in HIV-infected patients referred for suspected pulmonary thrombo-embolic disease.

Background: South Africa bares a significant burden of HIV and imaging is commonly performed as part of the workup for respiratory distress.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to document the prevalence of pulmonary thrombo-embolic disease (PTED) and other findings in HIV-infected patients referred for CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) for suspected PTED.

Method: Forty CTPA studies of documented HIV-infected individuals investigated for suspected PTED during a 1-year period were retrieved, anonymised and interpreted by three consultant radiologists.