title: The reliability of the routine chest roentgenogram for determination of heart size based on specific ventricular chamber evaluation at postmortem.
abstract: Routine posteroanterior and lateral chest radiographs in 268 patients were analyzed to determine heart size--normal, cardiomegaly, or specific chamber enlargement--using specified radiographic criteria for enlargement. The accuracy of this determination was compared with a specific ventricular mass derived from a postmortem cardiac chamber partition technique. The data indicate that in the majority of cases (greater than 70%) a normal-sized heart or cardiomegaly can be correctly determined from the chest x-ray either by the subjective criteria of chamber enlargement or by measurement of the transverse diameter. The use of the chest x-ray, however, for evaluation of specific ventricular chamber enlargement is a less accurate determination, and results are compromised.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Blue
authors.forename: P N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Thenabadu
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Ferris
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006332:Cardiomegaly / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006321:Heart / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic / Q000592:standards