Normal chest X-ray – 11-year-old

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Normal chest X-ray – 11-year-old

  • Chest X-rays of children can look very similar to those of adults
  • The only indication that this image is of a child is the unfused growth plates of the proximal humeri
  • Read more about growth plates

Normal chest X-ray – 15-year-old

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Normal chest X-ray – 15-year-old

  • By the age of 15 (female) or 16 (male) the proximal humeral growth plates are fused
  • The mature skeleton is then indistinguishable from an older adult

Normal chest X-ray – 47-year-old

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Normal chest X-ray – 47-year-old

  • In many adults the costochondral cartilage of the first rib ossifies
  • This is not an abnormality but can obscure lung pathology in this area

Normal chest X-ray – 77-year-old (costochondral calcification)

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Normal chest X-ray – 77-year-old (costochondral calcification)

Page author: Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust UK (Read bio)

Last reviewed: October 2019