Transverse diameter of chest and heart after birth asphyxia in the newborn infant.

The transverse diameter of the chest and heart was measured in 745 newborn infants after birth asphyxia. Both diameters showed a good correlation with birth weight. The great individual variations of the measurements were due to different degrees of birth asphyxia observed in the infants and to their different responses to compensate asphyxia. A wet lung and an increased transverse diameter of the chest (above the 90th percentile) indicate a good, and a decreased transverse diameter of the chest (bellow the 10th percentile) indicate a bad prognosis for survival. The cardiomegaly usually disappears after the first 12 hours of life, but in some cases it persists for more than 5 days, depending on the severity of birth asphyxia.