title: Comparison of tracheal diameter measured by chest x-ray and by computed tomography.
abstract: Assessments of tracheal diameter (TD) are important to select proper endotracheal tubes. Previous studies have used X-ray and physical indices to estimate tracheal diameter but these may not reflect the actual TD. We compared TD measured by X-ray (TD-XP) and by computer tomography (TD-CT) in 200 patients. Also, we analyzed correlation of TD-CT with physical indices such as age, height, weight, and BMI. TD-XP and TD-CT were significantly correlated (male: n = 55, P = .0146; female: n = 91, P = .001). TD-XP was 0.4 mm wider in male and 1.0 mm wider in female than TD-CT. However, correlation coefficients of TD-XP and TD-CT are very weak (male: r = 0.36; female: r = 0.653). TD-CT did not correlate with age, height, weight, or BMI. Our findings suggest that correlations of TD-XP and TD are statistically significant but not clinically significant. Physical indices are not useful to estimate TD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Clinical Care Medicine, Kanagawa Dental College, Kanagawa 238-8580, Japan.
authors.forename: Shigeki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sakuraba
authors.forename: Ryohei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Serita
authors.forename: Junya
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kuribayashi
authors.forename: Shizuko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kosugi
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Arisaka
authors.forename: Kazuichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Junzo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Takeda
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