key: cord-0962400-kjnfgmy1
authors: nan
title: Letter from the Guest Editor
date: 2021-11-10
journal: Semin Roentgenol
DOI: 10.1053/j.ro.2021.11.001
sha: f36570213c562ae6ed982d83d14afdda7383b308
doc_id: 962400
cord_uid: kjnfgmy1

nan

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted renewed public, clinical, and academic interest in thoracic infections, with a corresponding explosion of scientific and layperson publications related to pneumonia caused by the novel respiratory virus SARS-CoV-2. The COVID-19 public health emergency highlights the devastating consequences of a pneumonia pandemic. However, pneumonia --the most common thoracic infection --is a perennial cause of significant morbidity and mortality worldwide, even absent a pandemic. Pneumonia was the fourth most common cause of death worldwide in 2019, responsible for approximately 2.6 million deaths (1).

Imaging is vitally important in the diagnosis and management of pneumonia and other thoracic infections. Chest radiography and CT are often used to evaluate suspected infection, guide laboratory microbial testing, diagnose complications, and monitor disease course and treatment response. Etiologic agents of thoracic infections comprise a wide range of bacteria, mycobacteria, fungi, viruses, and other organisms. While imaging appearances often lack sufficient specificity to implicate a particular causative organism, imaging findings can often point to a broad category of infection, and consideration of patient demographics and clinical setting can refine the differential diagnosis.

This special volume of Seminars in Roentgenology provides readers with up-to-date, image-rich reviews of major topics in the imaging of thoracic infection, emphasizing a practical approach. The volume begins with an introduction to imaging of community-acquired pneumonia by Delijani et al. I would like to congratulate the authors for their excellent contributions, and I thank the Editor-In-Chief and the staff of Seminars in Roentgenology for the hard work and support in the execution of this project. We hope readers of the resulting volume benefit from a heightened appreciation of the nuances of imaging of thoracic infections.

Geneva: World Health Organization

Geneva: World Health Organization