Bedside chest radiography: Diagnostic efficacy after acute myocardial infarction

Supine posture is known to influence cardiac dysfunction. The authors evaluated the efficacy of bedside chest radiography in detecting cardiac dysfunction. Radiographic findings were correlated with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) as assessed by radionuclide ventriculography in 107 noncongested survivors of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The efficacy of radiography differed for the different heart dimensions. Below an LVEF of 50% (37 patients), radiography correlated for the cardiothoracic ratio (r = .39, P < .001), the heart-lung rectangle (r = .70, P < .001), and the heart area/body surface area ratio (r = .77, P < .001). Below and LVEF of 30% (32 patients), only the latter correlation was significant (P < .005, r = .81). The authors present data showing the diagnostic capability of baseline bedside chest radiography after AMI