Chest X-Ray Findings in Acute Pulmonary Embolism

Results of previous studies have indicated that chest radiographs are neither particularly sensitive, nor very specific, for establishing diagnoses in patients suspected of suffering acute pulmonary embolism. In addition, although right-ventricular hypokinesis is advocated by some authorities as diagnostic for PE, no investigators have described the relation between chest x-ray findings and echocardiographic evidence of RV hypokinesis. These authors reported findings from an international registry of 2454 consecutive patients with PE (confirmed primarily by high-probability ventilation and perfusion lung scans or pulmonary arteriography), of whom 2322 (95 percent) had chest x-rays and 1135 (46 percent) had echocardiograms available for revi…