CLINICAL RESOURCE REVIEW Thoracic Imaging: A Primer for Physicians by Wallace T. Miller, Jr., M.D. Scott K. Aberegg Pioneer Valley Hospital, Salt Lake City, Utah

Thoracic Imaging: A Primer for Physicians, 1st ed. W. T. Miller. 2013.

Field Thoracic radiology.

Description A tutorial app for learning the interpretation of chest radiographs and CT scans.

general disease categories (e.g., pleural, mediastinal, and interstitial disease) and specific disease states (e.g., sarcoidosis). The images are accompanied by text summaries and tutorials to guide interpretation as well as lists of differential diagnoses for categorical abnormalities. The app uses a “case-based learning” approach and delves immediately into interpretation of films, deferring basic discussions of anatomy, the silhouette sign, and underlying principles until they are germane to the interpretation of specific images. This approach makes the app suitable for beginners and experienced readers alike.

Format iPad app using didactic text and interactive high-quality reproductions of chest radiographs and CT scans.

Strengths

Trainees seeking to develop basic skills in the interpretation of chest images or any practitioner in need of a refresher course on image interpretation.

Intuitive interactive features allow the user to add and remove annotations, such as arrows pointing out subtle abnormalities, and to scroll through CT slices with ease. The images are high quality, interesting, and representative of abnormalities that will be encountered in practice or during examinations. The casebased learning approach captures and holds the attention of the user.

Content

Limitations and Weaknesses

This iPad app contains several hundred highresolution digital images representing various

The images are not labeled with a figure number or caption but rather with generic

Audience

descriptors such as “PA Chest Radiograph.” Combined with a design feature that allows you to scroll through images and didactic text independently, the lack of figure numbers can lead to confusion as to which image you are looking at and what text pertains to it. Similarly, when scrolling through images and their corresponding text, the text headings and navigation buttons identify the abnormality in the images or the underlying disease and thus serve as “spoilers,” preventing the user from viewing the images as unknown problems to solve. These issues abate as familiarity with the app increases during use. In spite of the large number of high-quality images, the entire app (which is only available for Apple devices) can be digested in a long afternoon, so some users may balk at the price of $35.99.

Competing Products This reviewer perused the Apple app store and downloaded several apps pertaining to thoracic imaging but was unable to find any product that competes with this app in terms of educational potential or richness of the image palette. n Author disclosures are available with the text of this article at www.atsjournals.org.

(Received in original form January 21, 2015; accepted in final form January 23, 2015 ) Correspondence and requests for reprints should be addressed to Scott K. Aberegg, M.D., M.P.H., Pioneer Valley Hospital, 3460 Pioneer Parkway, West Valley City, UT 84120. E-mail: [email protected] Ann Am Thorac Soc Vol 12, No 3, p 464, Mar 2015 Copyright © 2015 by the American Thoracic Society DOI: 10.1513/AnnalsATS.201501-047OT Internet address: www.atsjournals.org

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AnnalsATS Volume 12 Number 3 | March 2015

Thoracic imaging: a primer for physicians by wallace T. Miller, Jr., M.D.

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