title: Main bronchial diverticula in the subcarinal region: their relation to airflow limitations.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To date, bronchial diverticula have generally been treated as a pathological condition associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), although only a limited amount of published information is available on the relationship between bronchial diverticula as depicted by multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) and airflow limitations.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the relationship between airflow limitations and main bronchial diverticula in the subcarinal region using spirometry and thin-section MDCT.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 189 consecutive adult patients were retrospectively evaluated based on spirometry and thin-section MDCT of the chest. All examinations were performed at our institution between June and October 2008. The study group included 70 women and 119 men with a mean age of 65 years (range 19-86 years). The relationship between the FEV(1)% and bronchial diverticula in the subcarinal region was analyzed (Student's t-test).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The indications for conducting the examinations were pulmonary diseases (82 patients), cardiovascular diseases (22), extrapulmonary malignancies (74), and other conditions (11). A total of 84/189 (44.4%) patients showed bronchial diverticula, and the FEV(1)% of 70/84 (83.3%) patients was above 70. The FEV(1)% of patients with lesions ranged from 26.0 to 97.8 (mean 76.8), whereas the range was 28.1-94.4 (mean 73.7) in those without lesions. There was no significant association between the FEV(1)% and the presence of subcarinal bronchial diverticula (P > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data demonstrate that thin-section chest CT commonly demonstrates main bronchial diverticula in the subcarinal region in patients without airflow limitations. We propose that the presence of a small number of tiny bronchial diverticula under the carina may not be a criterion for the diagnosis of COPD.
authors: Department of Radiology, Respiratory Medicine, Niigata City General Hospital, Niigata-city, Niigata-ken, Japan. higuchi@hosp.niigata.niigata.jp
authors: Takeshi
authors: T
authors: Higuchi
authors: Naoya
authors: N
authors: Takahashi
authors: Motoi
authors: M
authors: Shiotani
authors: Suguru
authors: S
authors: Sato
authors: Atsushi
authors: A
authors: Ohta
authors: Haruo
authors: H
authors: Maeda
authors: Haruhiko
authors: H
authors: Nakajima
authors: Kazuhiko
authors: K
authors: Itoh
authors: Hiroki
authors: H
authors: Tsukada
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology*; D001982:Bronchial Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D004240:Diverticulum / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D061330:Multidetector Computed Tomography / Q000379:methods; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013147:Spirometry; D055815:Young Adult