Effect of Position on the Resting and Postexercise Phonocardiogram

¹ Cardiologist and Chief of Phonocardiography, Long Beach Veterans Administration Hospital; Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of California College of Medicine, Irvine
² Cardiology Section, Medical Service, Long Beach Veterans Administration Hospital; University of California College of Medicine, Irvine

Phonocardiograms were recorded at the maximum apical impulse in the left lateral decubitus position at rest and after a double Master two-step test in 100 normal subjects, mean age 51, in whom this procedure was previously performed in the supine position. In the left lateral decubitus position, 36 of the 100 normal subjects (36 percent) had a resting fourth heart sound, and 61 of these 100 subjects (61 percent) had a postexercise fourth heart sound. In the left lateral decubitus position, 19 of the 100 normal subjects (19 percent) had a resting third heart sound, and 46 of the 100 subjects (46 percent) had a postexercise third heart sound. Resting and postexercise fourth and third heart sounds are more frequently recorded in normal subjects in the left lateral decubitus position than in the supine position.