Some new normal roentgen variants that may simulate disease.

Nature's Bounty in providing infinite variety in human development may be an anthropologist's delight but it makes for a radiologist's nightmare. We differ anatomically, not only interindividually, one from the other, but even intraindividually, in the symmetry of our own bodies. To the experienced radiologist such minor variations are often safely ignored or recognized as unimportant. There are, however, a variety of these entities that simulate pathologic processes and can lead to errors and needless diagnostic investigation. It is this type of variant that is of concern and requires documentation. This monograph presents an atlas of normal variants of this type that I have collected since the last edition of my book on this subject. These are examples of entities that I have encountered in my daily practice or that have been sent to me by other radiologists. The reader's familiarity with them will be a reflection of his/her own experience; at any rate each of these has been a source of concern and is therefore worthy of documentation. I wish to express my deep appreciation for the help of the many radiologists whose interest in the subject has permitted me to demonstrate many of the new entities shown here.