| Normal CT characteristics of the thymus in adults. | |
| | |
MedLine Citation:
|
PMID: 22236705 Owner: NLM Status: Publisher |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
|
BACKGROUND: The thymus changes with age. Its shape and the proportion of solid tissue and fat vary between individuals, yet there is no comprehensive work describing the size and morphology of the normal thymus on CT. As a result, many adults with some preserved soft tissue in the thymus may undergo extensive work-up to exclude mediastinal tumor. Our aim was to quantify CT characteristics of the normal thymus in an adult population. METHODS: CT chest scans of 194 trauma patients aged 14-78 years (mean 52.6 years), were retrospectively reviewed. The density, volume, shape and predominant side of the thymus were recorded for 56 patients in whom some solid tissue was preserved. Statistical analysis of these characteristics according to the patient age and gender was performed. RESULTS: Thymic density and volume decreased progressively with age. No solid tissue component was seen in the thymus in patients older than 54 years. In the majority of patients, the thymus had an arrowhead shape, with middle position. However, great variability in thymic shape and border were noted. There was a highly significant relationship between density and patient age (p<0.0001). CONCLUSION: We hope that our work will help in the definition of normal thymic CT parameters in adults, help to prevent unnecessary and expensive imaging procedures, and reduce patient exposure to ionizing radiation. |
| | |
Authors:
|
Natalia Simanovsky; Nurith Hiller; Natali Loubashevsky; Katya Rozovsky |
Related Documents
:
|
22483385 - Relation between abdominal obesity, insulin resistance and left ventricular hypertrophy... 16394735 - Virtual reality simulation of fluoroscopic navigation. 17354835 - Automatic point landmark matching for regularizing nonlinear intensity registration: ap... 22223175 - Head-to-head comparison of transient elastography (te), real-time tissue elastography (... 19461065 - Unilateral hypopharyngitis, cellulitis, and a multinodular goiter: a triad of findings ... 17042255 - Pet scan as an aid for the return of a head-injured aviator to flying duty. |
Publication Detail:
|
Type: JOURNAL ARTICLE Date: 2012-1-9 |
Journal Detail:
|
Title: European journal of radiology Volume: - ISSN: 1872-7727 ISO Abbreviation: - Publication Date: 2012 Jan |
Date Detail:
|
Created Date: 2012-1-12 Completed Date: - Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
|
Nlm Unique ID: 8106411 Medline TA: Eur J Radiol Country: - |
Other Details:
|
Languages: ENG Pagination: - Citation Subset: - |
Copyright Information:
|
Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. |
Affiliation:
|
Department of Medical Imaging, Hadassah - Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel. |
Export Citation:
|
APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex |
| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
|
|
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
Previous Document: Comparison of neuroendocrine tumor detection and characterization using DOTATOC-PET in correlation w...
Next Document: Detecting event-related changes of multivariate phase coupling in dynamic brain networks.