Chest
Original ResearchBronchiectasisBronchoarterial Ratio on High-Resolution CT Scan of the Chest in Children Without Pulmonary Pathology: Need to Redefine Bronchial Dilatation
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
All helical MDCT scans of the chest undertaken at our tertiary pediatric center were prospectively screened from October 2009 to May 2010. Exclusion criteria were history of chronic cough (cough duration > 4 weeks); known cardiopulmonary condition, such as cystic fibrosis, bronchial asthma, previous pneumonia, chronic suppurative lung disease, congenital /acquired cardiac disorders, and so forth; presence of any (previous or current) pulmonary metastasis; previous/current chest radiotherapy or
Results
Of the 340 scans screened over the 8-month period, 41 (17 boys, 24 girls) met the inclusion criteria. The median (range) age at CT scan was 99 (5-214) months. IV contrast was administered in all CT scans with seven scans done under general anesthesia. Staging and progress of lymphoma was the most common indication for the CT chest scan. Details of indications for the included CT chest scans are given in e-Table 1.
Discussion
This prospective HRCT scan chest analysis of 41 children without pulmonary pathology shows that the mean BA ratio for the whole cohort was 0.626 (95% CI, 0.604-0.648). We did not find any correlation between BA ratio and age.
Normative data on airway and vessel dimensions in children are scarce. BA ratio is important because it is one of the most objective and commonly used criteria to define radiologic bronchial dilatation and bronchiectasis. Despite the evidence to the contrary,13, 21, 24 the
Acknowledgments
Author contributions: Dr Kapur: contributed to the study concept and design, radiologic measurements, analysis and interpretation of the data, drafting of the article, and statistical analysis.
Dr Masel: contributed to the study concept and design, radiologic measurements, and drafting of the article.
Ms Watson: contributed to HRCT scan reconstruction from raw data on included children and drafting of the article.
Dr Masters: contributed to the study concept and design and drafting of the article.
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Funding/Support: This study was funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council [525216] to Dr Chang and ANZ Trustees PhD Scholarship to Dr Kapur.
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