Mediastinal lines and stripes

On chest conventional radiography (CXR) can be identified a variety of mediastinal reflections that represent mediastinal lines, stripes and interfaces:

• Mediastinal lines are thin (<1mm in width) linear opacities that result from contact between two aerated structures outlining thin intervening tissue on both sides, such as the anterior and posterior junction lines.

• Mediastinal stripes are bands that result from air outlining thicker intervening mediastinal structure. The mediastinal stripes present on PA chest radiographs include the right and left paratracheal stripes.

• Mediastinal interfaces, or edges, are produced by contact between aerated lung and adjacent mediastinal structures. The mediastinal interfaces include the right and left paraspinal lines, the azygoesophageal recess, the aortic pulmonary stripe, the paraortic line and cardiac borders.