Auscultation of the Adult Heart by Machine

Abstract In school children, cardiac auscultation by machine (Phonocardioscan) has shown promise as a screening procedure. To determine its effectiveness as a screening procedure in adults, results obtained by this means were compared with those obtained by internists, in 456 subjects. The overall sensitivity of the new procedure was 75 per cent (25 per cent false-negative findings), ranging from 47 per cent sensitivity in innocent murmurs to 88 per cent in murmurs of congenital or rheumatic heart disease. Overall specificity was 66 per cent (34 per cent falsely positive). These results were less accurate than those in children reported by others. At its present stage of development, the machine was considered insufficiently sensitive and specific for incorporation into a multiphasic health appraisal examination of adults.