The extent of atelectasis in a lung field on the chest radiograph can be graded using a scoring scale.
Each lung (left and right) is divided into upper, middle and lower lung fields, with each field scored independently, giving a total of 6 scores.
|
Extent of Atelectasis on Chest X-ray
|
Score
|
|
no atelectasis
|
0
|
|
line-shaped subsegmental atelectasis (plate atelectasis)
|
1
|
|
wedge-shaped subsegmental atelectasis
|
2
|
|
stack-shaped subsegmental atelectasis
|
3
|
|
total subsegmental atelectasis
|
4
|
|
line-shaped segmental (several lung subsegments) atelectasis
|
5
|
|
wedge-shaped segmental atelectasis
|
6
|
|
stack-shaped segmental atelectasis
|
7
|
|
total segmental atelectasis
|
8
|
|
total lobar atelectasis
|
9
|
from Table 3, page 2220, Gust (1999)
