Oblique Axis Rib Stretch and Curved Planar Reformats in Patients for Rib Fracture Detection and Characterization: Feasibility and Clinical Application

Figure 3

A 59-year-old female patient was diagnosed with multiple fractures, including a fracture of the 7th anterior rib as indicated on the OARS image (b). Interestingly, none of the radiologists were able to detect the fracture (cortical folds) on either the CR image (a) or the CPRs’ image (c). It should be noted that the chest rib joint area in the CPRs’ image (c) is prone to misdiagnosed fractures (indicated by the rectangular dashed line). Within this region, fractures were identified in the right 6th, 7th, and 8th posterior ribs, as well as the left 6th and 8th posterior ribs, while the left 5th posterior rib was mistakenly diagnosed as a fracture. OARS: oblique axis rib stretch. CR: conventional reconstruction. CPRs: curved planar reformats.

(a)

(b)

(c)