Abdominal Survey Radiography of Geriatric Patients in a Neuropsychiatric Hospital*

Abstract

A radiographic survey of the abdomen was performed on 672 male patients over 50 years of age who had been hospitalized for neuropsychiatric disorders only. Conventional abdominal radiographs were obtained to supplement routine physical examinations. Significant findings included a retroperitoneal mass, a mega‐sigmoid, bladder distention and marked fecal stasis in older patients; also calculi in the gallbladder, pancreas, kidneys and bladder, and calcifications in an adrenal and in an aortic aneurysm. Massive hepatomegaly and splenomegaly were rarely observed. The liver frequently appeared to be of small size in the elderly. The combination of a small liver and a large spleen also served as a clue to hepatic cirrhosis. The abdominal radiographic survey is valuable, particularly when an abdominal emergency develops in a long‐term hospital patient.