Chest X-Ray (PA View)
A focused scan for Lungs, Heart size, Ribs and more.
Overview
Examines Lungs, Heart size, Ribs, Diaphragm. Performed at an NABL-accredited Meridian Health centre with a same-day report and a free doctor review.
The full panel
4 areas across 1 groupEvery parameter, grouped by body system — no clicking to expand.
What this scan measures
A single front-to-back image of the chest taken with you standing and holding a deep breath. It shows the lung fields, the outline and size of the heart, the major airways, the diaphragm, the ribs and collarbones, and the soft tissues of the chest wall.
The chest X-ray is the most-ordered imaging test in the world because it answers a lot for a very small dose: is there consolidation suggesting pneumonia, is there fluid around the lung, is the heart enlarged, is there a collapsed lung, is there a lesion that needs a CT. It is also the standard screen before surgery and for many employment and visa medicals.
Symptoms that lead to this scan
- Cough lasting more than two to three weeks
- Fever with breathlessness or chest pain
- Coughing up blood
- Unexplained weight loss or night sweats
- Pre-operative or pre-employment assessment
Understanding your results
A chest X-ray is a two-dimensional shadow of a three-dimensional chest, so it is good at detecting and poor at characterising. 'Prominent bronchovascular markings' and similar phrases are common descriptive findings with a wide range of causes including simple bronchitis. Consolidation suggests an area of lung filled with something other than air, most often infection, and is interpreted with your temperature and blood counts. Any discrete nodule or opacity is normally taken forward to a CT rather than concluded on, and up to a fifth of the lung is hidden behind the heart and diaphragm on a single view — which is why a normal chest X-ray never fully excludes disease.
Why the preparation matters
No preparation, no fasting. You will be asked to remove jewellery, coins, hair clips, bra underwires and anything metallic above the waist, because metal blocks X-rays completely and appears as a dense white shadow that can hide the lung underneath. Tell the radiographer if you are or might be pregnant.
X-Ray — safety and who should not be scanned
Full X-Ray guideThis is a low-dose ionising radiation test. Published reference figures put a chest X-ray at roughly the natural background radiation an average person absorbs over about ten days — less than a long-haul flight adds. Views through thicker tissue, such as the abdomen or lumbar spine, carry a meaningfully higher dose, which is why they are ordered more selectively. Modern digital detectors need far less radiation than the film systems they replaced, and the beam is collimated to the area being examined.
- Pregnancy, or any chance of it
- Tell the radiographer before the exposure, not after. X-rays of the chest or a limb deliver very little to the uterus and can often proceed with shielding when clinically necessary, but abdominal and pelvic views are usually deferred or replaced by ultrasound. The decision is made deliberately, by a doctor, in every case.
- Children and repeated imaging
- Children are more radiosensitive and have more years ahead in which an effect could appear, so paediatric exposures use reduced settings and every repeat is justified individually. If you have had several X-rays recently, say so — prior images can often be reused instead.
- Inability to hold the position or the breath
- Movement blurs the image and usually means the exposure has to be repeated, doubling the dose for no benefit. Tell the radiographer if pain, breathlessness or unsteadiness will make the position difficult; the view can almost always be adapted or supported.
- Metal and dense objects in the field
- Jewellery, coins, hairpins, bra underwires, belt buckles, dentures and some clothing prints appear as solid white shadows that can hide the anatomy underneath. They are removed before the exposure rather than worked around.
Who should consider this scan
- Anyone with a persistent cough, fever or breathlessness
- People being assessed for tuberculosis
- Smokers with new respiratory symptoms
- Patients due for surgery or an anaesthetic
- Anyone after chest trauma
Conditions it helps detect
How it works
Patient stories
96% recommend“The phlebotomist arrived exactly on time and was gentle. My report came in five hours with a doctor’s note.”
“Booked at night, sample collected next morning. The parameter breakdown is genuinely thorough.”
“Loved the free doctor review — she walked me through my vitamin D and thyroid results clearly.”