Abstract
To assess its reliability as a marker of cardiomegaly in elderly patients, we compared a clinical assessment of heart size with that calculated from chest radiography. In 100 hospitalized subjects of median age 78 years, the apex beat was palpable in only 35% and its palpability declined with increasing age. Even when palpable, the apex beat had low specificity (74%) and sensitivity (69%) as a marker of cardiomegaly and its positive predictive value (69%) and negative predictive value (74%) were poor. The clinical assessment of heart size in elderly hospitalized patients should be interpreted with caution.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 304-306 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Age and Ageing |
Volume | 20 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jul 1991 |
Externally published | Yes |