The respiratory therapist is reviewing the electronic medical record of a patient in the medical ICU
In reading the most recent chest radiograph interpretation, the therapist notes that the cardiothoracic ratio is stated to be less than 1:2 on the PA view. How should the therapist interpret this information?
a. This is a normal cardiothoracic ratio.
b. This is a decreased cardiothoracic ratio.
c. This ratio shows hyperinflation of the lung fields with subsequent air trapping.
d. This interpretation should be ignored because it is inaccurate in the PA view.
A
On the PA projection the ratio of the width of the heart to the thorax (the cardiothoracic ratio) is normally less than 1:2 . In other words, normally the width of the heart should be less than 50% of the width of the thorax.
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