Are cardiac series and electrocardiography reliable for detecting left atrial enlargement compared to volume measurements in children and patients with congenital heart or pulmonary disease?
Cardiac series with barium swallows and electrocardiography are unreliable for detecting minimal or moderate left atrial enlargement, requiring a 2.5-fold increase in volume for consistent detection.
Measurements of maximal and minimal left atrial volume were obtained from 9 control children and 52 patients with congenital heart disease or pulmonary disease. The volume measurements were correlated with readings of left atrial enlargement by cardiac series and electrocardiography. These studies showed that left atrial volume must be enlarged 2.5 times beyond normal limits before cardiac series and electrocardiography can consistently define left atrial enlargement. Hence cardiac series with barium swallows and electrocardiography are unreliable guides to the size of the left atrium, especially in the presence of minimal or moderate enlargement.
Levin et al. (Fri,) studied this question.
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