Measurement of the Average Diameter of the Tracheal Air Column on Chest X-ray

Abstract

In an attempt to establish the screening criteria of tracheobronchomalacia, we examined the average diameter of the tracheal air column of healthy Japanese individuals.
We report here the results along with their correlation with age and height. The frontal diameter of the intrathoracic trachea was found to have a good correlation with height. There is also a good correlation with age under twenty years where developmental growth is still continuous. When we examined the relationship between the saggital and frontal diameters of the intratoracic trachea, the increase with age of the former was greater than the latter. In addition, the increase of the frontal diameters of the intrathoracic trachea was less than those of the extrathoracic one. These results suggest a disporportional development of the trachea in specific directions.