In this Issue: April 2014

“We choose to go the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard...”
—President John F. Kennedy

When Lt Col (Dr.) O’Brien asked me to serve as guest editor for the first chest edition of JAOCR, I quickly involved our friend and AOCR colleague, Bernard Laya, DO. With his expertise in chest imaging and as a world expert on tuberculosis in children, combined with Bill O’Brien’s tireless dedication to make this Journal a success, I felt as though we were in great hands to develop a chest imaging edition worth keeping on your bookshelf for reference.

I am confident you will find the included topics informative, practical to your practice, and up-to-date. For example, “The Posterior Mediastinal Mass” case report by Anagha Joshi, MD, DMRE, Chintan Trivedi, MD, DNB, and Ashank Bansal, MBBS, has a representative biopsy proven mass with differentials and great discussion.

Similarly, Dr. Rachel Crum’s skillful description of a pediatric cavitary lung mass is supported with great images and differentials that allow radiologists to approach this scenario more confidently.

Aswin V. Kumar, OMS3, and Sue C. Kaste, DO, provide a thrilling review of chest x-ray findings that should make one consider that the patient might be a childhood cancer survivor. Knowing these clues will help radiologists identify the effects of both the cancer and its therapies.

Nathan David P. Concepcion, MD, Bernard F. Laya, DO, and Ana Maria Saulog, MD, orchestrated an astounding yet concise summary on congenital bronchopulmonary foregut anomalies while highlighting a particular case.

Shereef Takla, BS, and Aaron M. Betts, MD, tackled the challenge of interstitial lung disease, something that I thought to be impossible in a case report. Yet, they met and exceeded their goal with great images, differentials, and discussion.

Ali Yikilmaz, MD, presents an interesting case that although seemingly uncommon, could show up at our viewbox at any time. Knowing the water-lily sign associated with hydatid cysts will help us make the diagnosis.

Although I see cases of lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) nearly every day, Bernard Laya, DO, and Regina C. Nava, MD, put LAM into the needed perspective with representative lung and extrapulmonary findings.

I sought Bill and Bernie’s advice on making my ICU chest x-ray article useful to the majority of radiologists in this audience. I included the basics of line and tube placement, pulmonary pathology, newer imaging techniques, and tips on reporting.

Lastly, I would like to recognize Lt Col William T. O'Brien, Sr., USAF, MC, for pioneering and bringing the JAOCR to its current status. Having served with the Air Force myself for 20 years and the AOCR for nearly the same amount of time on various committees, taking on the JAOCR is a major undertaking and is the epitome of the quote I selected.