Heart volume and cardiovascular mortality.

The possible association between heart size measured during a cardiovascular screening examination and cardiovascular mortality was studied in 1984 healthy men aged 40–59 years. At the 16-year follow-up 278 had died, 150 from cardiovascular diseases. Cardiovascular mortality was 2.2 times higher among the 122 men with heart size ≥ 500 ml. m than among those with heart size < 500 ml .m. This association was, however, exclusively confined to men with physical fitness below median in whom the corresponding mortality ratio was 4.6 (95% confidence interval 2.5–8.4; <0.001) after adjustment for age, smoking, cholesterol, blood pressure and heart rale. Heart size measurements from routine chest X-rays is fast, easy, inexpensive and appears to provide valuable, independent screening information in healthy, middle-aged men. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]