Diagnostic value of the portable chest x-ray technic in pulmonary edema.
The ability of the portable chest x-ray film to define the amount of physiologic shunting and the severity of noncardiogenic pulmonary edema was evaluated in thirty-seven observations of eleven patients. Ten of the eleven patients were suffering from acute respiratory failure. The radiologic assessment of the amount of pulmonary edema and the severity of left ventricular failure were compared with the physiologic shunt fraction, tracer-measured lung water, and pulmonary arterial wedge pressure. The radiologic scores for edema did not predict the shunt fraction or tracer measurements of lung water. The radiologic score for congestive failure correlated with the wedge pressure but not well enough to be clinically useful. Five per cent of the x-ray results were false-positive and 11 per cent false-negative. Results indicate that the portable chest x-ray technic does not provide quantitative information regarding cardiopulmonary function. It is especially hazardous to accept an x-ray diagnosis of congestive failure as the cause of pulmonary edema.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011654:Pulmonary Edema / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic; D012131:Respiratory Insufficiency / Q000150:complications