Congestive Heart Failure

Letters and Corrections1 July 1977Congestive Heart FailureCLEMENT J. MCDONALD, M.D.CLEMENT J. MCDONALD, M.D.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-87-1-119 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptTo the editor: I appreciate the enlightenment that Harlan and associates (1) have provided with their article on congestive failure. Their data provide the beginnings of a rational, quantified framework for making clinical decisions about congestive failure.If one accepts the authors' criterion for congestive failure (left end diastolic pressure greater than 15 mm Hg), one must conclude that the medical community habitually underdiagnoses congestive failure, since the most sensitive objective indicator (cardiomegaly) is false-negative 38% of the time. However, this conclusion depends on the validity of the authors' criterion for congestive failure. The fact that only 66% of these...References1. HARLAN W, OBERMAN A, and GRIMM R: Chronic congestive heart failure in coronary artery disease: clinical criteria. Ann Intern Med 86:133-138, 1977 LinkGoogle Scholar2. GLOVER L, BAXLEY W, and DODGE H: A quantitative evaluation of heart size measurements from chest roentgenograms. Circulation 47:1289-1296, 1973 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar1. GALEN R and GAMBINO S: Beyond Normality. New York, John Wiley and Sons, 1975, pp. 50-113 Google Scholar This content is PDF only. To continue reading please click on the PDF icon. Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: CLEMENT J. MCDONALD, M.D.Affiliations: Department of Medicine Indiana University School of Medicine Indianapolis, IN 46202 PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics 1 July 1977Volume 87, Issue 1Page: 119-120KeywordsBlood pressureDecision makingHeart failure ePublished: 1 December 2008 Issue Published: 1 July 1977 PDF downloadLoading ...