Causes of abnormal right diaphragmatic position diagnosed by ultrasound.

Fifty patients with an abnormal right diaphragmatic position on posterior-anterior and lateral chest films and five patients following right thoracotomy were examined by ultrasound. The transabdominal and intercostal approach with the liver as an acoustic window was used. In all patients the cause for the change in the diaphragmatic position and the nature of an opacified right hemithorax after thoracotomy and pulmonectomy were identified.