Jb. Brodsky et al., The relationship between tracheal width and left bronchial width: Implications for left-sided double-lumen tube selection, J CARDIOTHO, 15(2), 2001, pp. 216-217
Objective: To determine if there is a relationship between tracheal width (
TW) and left bronchial width (LBW).
Design: Three-dimensional chest computed tomography (CT) scans were used to
reconstruct major airways for measurement of TW and LBW.
Setting: Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, California.
Participants: Thirty-one adult patients undergoing chest CT scans.
Interventions: Cursors were used to directly measure internal diameter from
coronal images of the trachea at mid-clavicular level end the left main br
onchus at a level 1 cm below the carina.
Measurements and Main Results: TW and LBW, but not the LBW-to-TW ratio, wer
e significantly larger in men than in women. The LBW-to-TW ratio was consis
tent fbr men (0.75 +/- 0.09) and women (0.77 +/- 0.10).
Conclusions: LBW is proportional to TW. If LBW cannot be measured directly
but TW can, the ratio of LBW to TW can be used to predict LBW. An appropria
te-sized left double-lumen tube can then be selected for the patient. Copyr
ight (C) 2001 by W.B. Saunders Company.