The Roentgen Diagnosis of Cardiac Aneurysms

Aneurysmal dilatation of the heart is by no means a rare lesion pathologically. The signs are so indefinite that relatively few cases have been recognized clinically. A still smaller number have been recognized roentgenologically, because they often do not produce any change in the silhouette. However, the silhouette is pathognomonic when well marked, and it would appear that with care a greater percentage could be diagnosed, or at least suspected, when the changes are minimal. The earliest reports include an aneurysm of the right auricle by the Dane Olaus Borrich in 1676, one of the right ventricle by the Frenchman Pierre Dionis in Paris in 1696, and one of the left ventricle by the Italian Dominic Galeati in 1757. Since these cases, many have been reported. Usually the lesion is single, but several aneurysms can be present in one patient, as, for instance, the case reported by Fujinami in 1900