The difficulty of diagnosing pneumonia by chest x-ray in children less than 4 years of age was studied by comparing the chest roentgenograms of 34 healthy children with the chest roentgen ograms of 34 children previously diagnosed as having pneumonia. Review of these films without knowledge of the previous interpretation and without clinical information disclosed variations regarding the roentgenographic confirmation of pneumonia in 24 percent of the cases and variations regarding the location of the lesion in about 50 percent of the cases.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
McCarthy PL, Spiesel SZ, Stashwick CA, et al. Radiographic findings and etiologic diagnosis in ambulatory childhood pneumonias. Clin Pediatr1981;20:686-91.
2.
Birkelo CC, Chamberlain WE, Phelps PS, et al. Tuberculosis case finding. JAMA1947;133:359-66.
3.
Zir LM, Miller SW, Dinsmore RE, et al. Interobserver variability in coronary angiography. Circulation1976;53:627-32.
4.
Leventhal JMClinical predictors of pneumonia as a guide to ordering chest roentgenograms. Clin Pediatr1982;21: 730-4.
