Chest X-ray: implementation and indication Recommendations of the thoracic imaging working group of the German Radiological Society

Background Even after more than 100 years, the chest X-ray is still an important technique to detect important pathological changes of lungs, heart and vessels in a fast and low-dose manner. For the German-speaking regions, there are only recommendations available published by the "Standigen Strahlenschutzkommission (SSK)" regarding the indication. These recommendations are not updated on a regular basis and more recent developments are only integrated with delayed. Methods The chest division of the German Radiological Society has summarized their expertise for the usage and indication of the chest X-ray. Especially within the field of oncology the usage of chest X-ray is evaluated differently to the aforementioned recommendations; here chest computed tomography (CT) is much more sensitive for evaluation of metastasis and local invasion of tumors. Also, within the area of infectious diseases in non-immunocompetent patients, CT is the method of choice. Based on the structure of the current recommendations, many current guidelines and indications are summarized and presented within the context of the usage of chest X-ray.