Thoracic Radiology

Barry Leitman, MD, Acting Section Chief

One the largest services of its type in the world, the Thoracic Imaging section specializes in the diagnosis and evaluation of interstitial lung disease, airway diseases including asthma, emphysema, and COPD, lung infections, pleural diseases, occupational exposure, and cancer.

In addition, our section is known for its leadership in the field of early lung cancer detection. In general, the five-year survival after the diagnosis of lung cancer is only about 15 percent. However, this statistic is vastly improved if the cancer is detected and treated before it has become widespread. Thus, the goal of lung cancer screening with CT is to detect a cancer before the patient becomes aware of it through symptomatology, and before the cancer is evident on chest X-ray. CT is significantly more sensitive than X-ray in the detection of small lung nodules. CT screening is recommended for patients at relatively high risk for lung cancer, especially those over the age of 50 with at least a ten pack-a-year history of smoking.

The Thoracic Imaging section consists of board certified specialty-trained chest radiologists. The division’s state-of-the art equipment includes ten multi-slice CT scanners, with 16-detector scanners in many locations, including our emergency departments. Also on hand are clinical CT-PET scanners in two different locations, with a third soon to be added.