[Evaluation of left ventricular enlargement in isolated aortic insufficiency. Importance of the total cardiac volume calculated on the standard chest film].

A radiographic and hemodynamic investigation has been performed in 53 patients with pure isolated aortic regurgitation, in order to evaluate the most reliable method to detect left ventricular enlargement in this condition. Twelve plain chest film measurements have been compared to the end diastolic volume of the left ventricle calculated by left ventricular angiography. The most sensitive detector of left ventricular enlargement was the plain film total heart volume ( r = 0.754); the cardiothoracic ratio, the cardiac perimeter and the frontal area were less sensitive measurements, but still statistically significant (p less than 0.001). The results of our investigation support the conclusion that plain film total heart volume is the most reliable single measurement for evaluating the left ventricular enlargement in patients with isolated pure aortic incompetence.