Abstract
Background
Tracheomalacia is characterized by excessive expiratory collapse of the trachea.
Objective
To investigate the accuracy of free-breathing cine CT for diagnosis of tracheomalacia in young children with bronchoscopy as reference standard.
Materials and methods
In a retrospective study (May 2001–July 2008), a patient group (n = 27) of children with bronchoscopic evidence of tracheomalacia, and a control group (n = 320) underwent free-breathing cine CT. The tracheal shape on free-breathing cine CT was classified as round, lunate, elongated or crescentic. Cross-sectional area change of the trachea and age were compared between the groups and the diagnostic performance of free-breathing cine CT for tracheomalacia was evaluated.
Results
The patient group showed significantly greater cross-sectional area change of the trachea (57.2% ± 22.2% vs. 10.6% ± 11.2%, P < 0.001) than the control group. If a cross-sectional area change of the trachea of 31.6% was used as a cut-off value for the diagnosis of tracheomalacia, the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of cine CT were 96.3% (26/27), 97.2% (311/320) and 97.1% (337/347), respectively. If a crescentic shape during the expiratory phase was used, the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were 51.9% (14/27), 98.8% (316/320) and 95.1% (330/347), respectively.
Conclusion
Free-breathing cine CT has potential to provide the diagnosis of tracheomalacia in young children.
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Goo, H.W. Free-breathing cine CT for the diagnosis of tracheomalacia in young children. Pediatr Radiol 43, 922–928 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-013-2637-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-013-2637-x