[Correlation between chest radiography and the echocardiogram to evaluate cardiomegaly in patients with systemic arterial hypertension].
The chest radiography is used routinely by the clinician as a tool in the scan of patients with systemic arterial hypertension (SAH) to evaluate the dimensions of the heart. However the highest reported sensitivity for the evaluation of heart growth with this method is 77.3% in contrast to the transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) that reaches between 90 to 100%. The aim of this study was assess in our population of patients with SAH, the correlation between chest radiography and the TTE in regard to cardiomegaly.


METHODS
Seventy two patients with SAH and radiological cardiomegaly, graded by measuring the cardiothoracic ratio (CTR), were evaluated by transthoracic echocardiography. The Pearson's and Spearman's correlation coefficients between both methods were assessed. Significance level was set at < 0.05.


RESULTS
Forty one (56.9%) patients were women and 31 (43.1%) were men. The age was 62.4 +/- 10 years (43-83 years). Left ventricular concentric hypertrophy (LVCH) was found in 56 (77.8%) patients. In 13 (18%) patients the left ventricular end diastolic diameter (LVEDD) was higher than the normal value. The correlation coefficient between the diastolic ventricular septal thickness (DST) and CTR was 0.285 (p < 0.05) and between the LVEDD and radiological cardiomegaly was 0.203 (p = NS).


CONCLUSIONS
In patients with SAH, the radiological evidence of cardiomegaly keeps a correlation with ventricular hypertrophy, but not with ventricular dilation.
Díaz Arrieta
Gustavo
G
Servicio de Medicina Interna de Adultos, Hospital General Dr. Gaudencio Gonzalez Garza, Centro Medico Nacional La Raza. gustavodiazarrieta@yahoo.com
Mendoza Hernández
Maria Elsa
ME
Hernández Cabrera
Jorge
J
Robles Parra
Héctor Manuel
HM
Espinosa Vázquez
Raúl Arturo
RA
Pacheco Aranda
Erika
E
Rivas Duro
Miguel
M
Domínguez Herrera
Javier Guillermo
JG
Sánchez Velázquez
Luis David
LD
Ramírez Torres
Marco Antonio
MA
Sánchez Maravillas
Juana
J
Ortega Alvarado
Alejandra Silvia
AS
D000328:Adult; D006332:Cardiomegaly / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011859:Radiography; D014463:Ultrasonography