title: Prognostic significance of radiographic cardiomegaly in patients with coronary heart disease.
abstract: To define the long term prognosis in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) we have used criteria of radiographic cardiomegaly supplemented by M-mode echocardiography. 74 patients (Group A) with CHD and cardiomegaly were seen from 1980 to 1983 and have been compared to 121 patients (Group B) with normal cardiac size and prior myocardial infarction. Patients in Group A were defined by radiographic cardiomegaly with cardio-thoracic ratio of 0.50 or more. The groups were matched for age, sex and major coronary risk factors like hypertension, total cholesterol levels, smoking and diabetes. The echocardiographic diastolic left ventricular internal dimension of 6.16 +/- 0.34 cm was significantly more in Group A as compared to 4.94 +/- 0.26 cm in Group B (t = 2.03, p < 0.05). Actuarial analysis indicates that mortality or surgical option is significantly higher in patients with cardiomegaly (Logrank test = 59.72, p < 0.001) and the mortality is significantly more during the initial years. Thus, radiographic cardiomegaly indicates a bad prognosis in patients with CHD.
authors.affiliation: KD Gupta Medical Centre, Jaipur.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: K D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Gupta
mesh_terms: D000206:Actuarial Analysis; D006332:Cardiomegaly / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004452:Echocardiography; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011859:Radiography; D012307:Risk Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors