A LATERAL WILL DO

Efforts to reduce the dose of diagnostic medical irradiation by applyi ng selective criteria for radiographic examinations have been addresse d by the Royal College of Radiologists in their Guidelines. Reduction of the number of views of an area has also been suggested by some auth ors. Deviating from one of the fundamentals of skeletal radiology whic h requires at least two views of any part of the skeleton may lead to misdiagnosis. This concept is considered in relation to the lumbar spi ne. Continued routine acquisition of at least two views for the radiog raphic examination of the lumbar spine is stressed.