CAMRT Radiography Practice Exam

If the right SC joint, manubrium, and sternal body are positioned beneath the vertebral column, what was the patient's positioning?

1. Insufficiently obliqued

2. Excessively obliqued

3. Correctly oriented

4. Perfectly rotated

The correct answer is: Insufficiently obliqued

When a patient's right sternoclavicular (SC) joint, manubrium, and sternal body are positioned beneath the vertebral column, this indicates that the patient was insufficiently obliqued during the imaging procedure. For an adequate image that properly demonstrates the SC joint alignment and avoids superimposition with the vertebral column, a specific degree of obliquity is necessary. In this case, if the anatomical structures are located beneath the vertebral column instead of being clearly visualized to one side, it suggests that the appropriate degree of rotation to project the SC joint laterally has not been achieved. Therefore, the positioning was not adequate to provide the necessary separation and visualization of the structures of interest. Proper positioning would involve sufficient rotation away from the midline, allowing for the structures to be displayed laterally. In this scenario, the lack of separation implies the patient’s positioning did not meet these requirements effectively.