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Abstract

Chest pain is seldom a complaint of athletes. However sports injuries to the chest can be painful and life-threatening. Therefore it is important to choose the most reliable imaging modality to support the clinical diagnosis in the athlete with chest pain. In this chapter the role of radiology in various sports-related chest injuries is described, from the rarely described (but commonly diagnosed) costochondritis and sternal fractures to the more common rib fractures. The chest injury itself will be addressed first and then followed by the appropriate imaging modality and radiologic findings and characteristics. Traumatic as well as overuse injuries to the chest will be discussed. Emphasis will also be placed on ruling out any life-threatening complications by selecting the right imaging modality.

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Abbreviations

ALARA:

As low as reasonably achievable

AP:

Anterior-to-posterior direction

CT:

Computed tomography

ECG:

Electrocardiogram

FAT SAT:

Fat saturation

IOC:

International Olympic Committee

MRI:

Magnetic resonance imaging

PA:

Posterior-to-anterior direction

PTX:

Pneumothorax

SC:

Sternoclavicular

STIR:

Short-tau inversion recovery

TSE:

Turbo spin echo

US:

Ultrasound/ultrasonography

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Correspondence to Anouk Marinke Barendregt .

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Barendregt, A.M., Maas, M. (2015). Radiologic Imaging of Chest Injuries. In: Glaudemans, A., Dierckx, R., Gielen, J., Zwerver, J. (eds) Nuclear Medicine and Radiologic Imaging in Sports Injuries. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-46491-5_14

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