ARDMS (American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography) Practice Test

In sonography, what does the term "transverse" refer to?

1. A horizontal plane through the body

2. A vertical plane through the body

3. A plane that divides the body into front and back

4. A plane that divides the body into upper and lower portions

The correct answer is: A plane that divides the body into upper and lower portions

The term "transverse" in sonography is specifically used to describe a horizontal plane that runs perpendicular to the long axis of the body. This imaging orientation helps visualize various anatomical structures in a cross-section, allowing sonographers to obtain slices of the body that show internal organs and tissues clearly. While the other choices pertain to different planes of the body—such as the vertical planes represented by the "sagittal" for left and right divisions and "coronal" for front and back—the key characteristic of the transverse plane is its ability to divide the body into upper and lower portions. This is crucial for diagnosing conditions and assessing anatomical abnormalities since it provides a view of relationships between different organs in the body across this horizontal axis.