Thursday, January 26, 2006

Normal Chest X-ray in Heart Failure

Chest Radiographs Negative for One in Five Acute Heart Failure Patients
"Nearly one in five patients admitted to an emergency department with decompensated heart failure will have negative chest radiography results, a new analysis of registry data suggests.
The findings are consistent with past research suggesting that the test will find no signs of congestion in a substantial proportion of acute heart failure patients. The chest X-ray is still really an invaluable tool in the emergency physician's workup of heart failure But physicians who suspect heart failure in a patient should not conclude it isn't there if a chest radiograph is negative
."

Reference- Ann Emerg Med 2006;47:13-21.

Source- Reuters Health Information

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