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Postoperative fever is commonly attributed to atelectasis when no other source is found, but evidence for that presumption is lacking. This study assessed the relation between fever and atelectasis in 100 patients who had chest x-rays right after cardiac surgery and on the first and second postoperative days. The prevalence of radiographic atelectasis increased over the three study days (43, 69, and 79 percent). Conversely, the prevalence of temperature of at least 38.0 degrees C decreased progressively over the three days (37, 21, and 17 percent). Fever and atelectasis were not positively correlated; in fact, patients with high fever (38.5 or greater) were more likely not to have atelectasis than to have it. No study patient was found to b…