What is a common result of increasing kilovoltage in a radiographic exam?

Increasing kilovoltage (kVp) in a radiographic exam primarily results in a lower contrast image. This occurs because higher kVp values increase the energy of the x-rays produced, which leads to a greater penetration of the x-ray beam through the body tissues. As a result, differences in tissue density and composition are less pronounced, resulting in a wider range of grays in the image. This reduced differentiation between various tissue types means that the contrast of the image is diminished. Lower contrast images typically show more shades of gray rather than stark black and white differences, making it harder to distinguish between different anatomical structures.

In contrast, other options may not directly correlate with the effect of increasing kilovoltage. For instance, while increasing kVp may lead to more uniform exposure and reduce patient dose through decreased exposure time, it does not inherently increase the dose to the patient; hence this is not accurate. Similarly, spatial resolution, which represents the ability to differentiate small structures in the image, does not improve with higher kilovoltage, and increasing kVp can actually lead to more noise due to scatter, but that's not a primary outcome relating to the direct effect of increased kilovoltage on image quality.