Clinical Indicators of Radiographic Findings in Patients With Suspected Community-Acquired Pneumonia: Who Needs a Chest X-Ray?

The data suggest that chest radiographs are unnecessary in patients with acute respiratory symptoms who present with normal vital signs and physical examination findings. Because approximately 5% of cases would be missed, however, these criteria are useful only for patients with reliable follow-up and a low likelihood of morbidity if CAP is not detected initially.