Biblioteca Virtual en Salud

Background:

Heart size in the absence of skeletal abnormalityor any lung disease is assumed to be related with the habitusof the patients. Tendency to estimate the heart size hasflagged a very objective methodology for clinical diagnosis,serial determination and population studies on heart size, evenwith of its limitations. The present study was conducted withthe aim to estimate the association of heart diameter andcardio-thoracic ratio (CTR) with the body habitus.Materials and

Methods:

The subjects between 25-70 years ofage and without having any cardiac etiology, lung disease orany other heart problem were included in the study. The weightof the subjects was estimated without footwear. A posterioranterio chest X-ray was taken with a focus distance ofapproximately 1.8 m with erect posture of the person andnormal inspiration. All the data thus obtained was arranged in atabulated form and analysed using SPSS software.

Results:

The CTR amongst males less than 30 years of agewas 43.2 and females was 45.8. The CTR amongst malesbetween 30-40 years of age was 44.4 and females was 46.4.Females with BMI more than 30 had CTR of 48.2 and maleswith BMI less than 24 had CTR of 47.2.

Conclusion:

From the above results it can be concludedthat the diameter of heart has a strong interrelation with thebody measurements as compared to the cardio thoracicdiameter.