Aspirated barium during an esophagram beautifully outlines the trachea, bronchi, and alveolar acini (oblique image with all of the barium actually in right lower lung). Barium is inert and non-toxic to the lungs. In fact, it was once used as an inhaled positive contrast agent for bronchography in the pre-CT era, in addition to oil-based preparations. Having said that, this is not what you want to see on your fluoroscopy screen. And why am I suddenly hungry for something heart-healthy??A 1962 article from NEJM depicting diagnostic bronchography. And at bottom of every differential diagnosis, sitting in ambush and haunting the dreams of residents and fellows alike, is that of AMYLOIDOSIS!That has to have been uncomfortable.
Much of my career in radiology has been spent studying, with great fascination, the internal mechanisms of the human body. This blog is an effort to expand that view to the outside world and also to map my own experiences engaging with it.
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Great Exudations 