Roentgen aspects of isolated pulmonary valvular stenosis on chest plain films.

Isolated pulmonary valvular stenosis shows a typical radiological pattern in 70% of the cases, including bulging of the left middle and the right inferior segments, a convex left inferior segment and an upwards shift of the apex. In quite a lot of cases (28%), only one of the four above mentioned criteria, are found, mainly the bulging of the left middle segment. There is a small percentage (6%) of cases with an atypical radiological pattern or showing total normality (5%). There is a clear connection between the cardio-thoracic index and the degree of the stenosis but there is no connection between the severity of the stenosis and the degree of bulging of the left middle segment. However the plain chest film has no value for prognosis (evaluation of the degree of the stenosis) nor to follow the post operative course of this frequent congenital abnormality.