Assessment of congestive heart failure in chest radiographs

The effect of observer variations and film-screen quality on the diagnosis of congestive heart failure based on chest radiographs was studied in 27 patients. For each patient, two films were exposed, one with the Kodak Lanex Medium system and one with the Agfa MR 400 system. The films were presented to three observers who assessed the presence of congestive heart failure on a three-graded scale. The results showed no significant difference between the two systems but large systematic differences between the observers. There were also differences between the two ratings by the same observer that could not be explained by the film-screen factor. It is concluded that the choice between these two systems is of little importance in view of the interobserver and intraobserver variability that can exist within the same department. (orig.)