title: The right paratracheal stripe.
abstract: The right paratracheal stripe (RPS) is seen on postero-anterior chest radiographs as a thin, water-density stripe between the air column of the trachea and the adjacent right lung. The range of width of the RPS in 1,259 normal subjects was 1 to 4 mm. An RPS width of 5 mm or more is reliable evidence of disease. The differential diagnosis of this finding is lengthy, and best divided into those diseases affecting the (a) trachea; (b) mediastinum; and (c) pleura.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008477:Mediastinal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D010995:Pleural Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011859:Radiography; D013896:Thoracic Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014132:Trachea / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014133:Tracheal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging