Survey of 500 Consecutive Routine Abdominal Roentgenograms of Adults Hospitalized for Chest Disease

Five hundred patients admitted to National Jewish Hospital from April, 1957 until October, 1958 had a scout film of the abdomen performed in the supine position, in addition to the routine hospital work-up. In 22.4 per cent (112) of the adult patients studied, significant findings were observed in this film. These included: (1) six cases of abnormal size solid viscera; (2) 37 in which abnormal calcifications were observed; (3) 17 with foreign bodies or residues of the injection of radio-opaque materials; (4) 49 cases of arthritic and bony changes; (5) 12 of severe atherosclerosis; (6) nine of deformity secondary to healed fractures; and (7) one of pregnancy. Although patients over 40 years comprised only 43 per cent of the population studied, 75 per cent of pathologic changes were observed in this group. Because of the proportionately greater yield and because the radiation hazards are of lesser importance in the older population, these results indicate that films of the abdomen of patients admitted to hospitals specializing in chest disease should be made routinely only on patients over 40 years of age.