Bedside Chest Radiography in the Intensive Care Unit / 实用放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the applied value of bedside chest radiography in the intensive care unit ( ICU ) . Methods One hundred and ninety-three cases with 507 chest radiographs (CXRs) in the ICU were analysed retrospectively. The appearances of cardiopulmonary abnormalities were analysed.Results 97.4% of the CXRs were satisfied for diagnosis. 83.9% of the CXRs showed cardiopulmonary abnormalities, including atelectasis, pneumonia, pulmonary edema, ARDS, pneumothorax, mediastinal and subcataneous emphysema,pleural effusion,pericardial effusion and pulmonary thromboembolism, and 6.2% out of these positive cases was discovered accidentally. The chest radiograph has moderate accuracy (77.9%) in visualizing cardiopulmonary abnormalities at the initial CXR including atelectasis,pneumonia,pulmonary edema and pleural effusion. Misdiagnosis occurred mainly on the patients with a small quantity of pneumothorax and pulmonary thromboembolism. About one-third cases of cardiogenic edema and ARDS were indistinguishable.Conclusion Bedside chest radiographs are of significant value for the patients in the ICU.