Owen's Contour Lines

Owen's (Owen-Abner) contour lines are stripes of a chest X-ray, during the study of which collapse of the pulmonary vessels as a result of blockage of the bronchi with sputum was first identified. There is an opinion that research in such patients cannot be carried out using X-ray topography and that the tuberculin research method is most appropriate. For the purpose of differential diagnosis of lobar pneumonia, it is necessary to distinguish K. l. O.-E. from pulmonary infarction (“hemosiderosis”), bronchiolitis in the form of infiltration and fibrosis, and with primary pulmonary hypertension.