title: [Correlation between chest radiography and the echocardiogram to evaluate cardiomegaly in patients with systemic arterial hypertension].
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Medicina Interna de Adultos, Hospital General Dr. Gaudencio Gonzalez Garza, Centro Medico Nacional La Raza. gustavodiazarrieta@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Gustavo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Díaz Arrieta
authors.forename: Maria Elsa
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Mendoza Hernández
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hernández Cabrera
authors.forename: Héctor Manuel
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Robles Parra
authors.forename: Raúl Arturo
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Espinosa Vázquez
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pacheco Aranda
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rivas Duro
authors.forename: Javier Guillermo
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Domínguez Herrera
authors.forename: Luis David
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Sánchez Velázquez
authors.forename: Marco Antonio
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ramírez Torres
authors.forename: Juana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sánchez Maravillas
authors.forename: Alejandra Silvia
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Ortega Alvarado
mesh_terms: 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