Determination of trachea and main bronchus morpometrics in pediatric population by multidedector computerized tomography

The trachea and main bronchi are the tubular parts of the respiratory system and composed of muscles, membranes and cartilages that provide air conduction. In order to sustain life, its functional and anatomical integrity must be preserved. It is necessary to know well the anatomy and morphometry of the trachea and main bronchi, in order to make clinical applications and surgical interventions healthier and safer. Because it can show differences depending on age and environmental factors. Therefore, in this thesis it was aimed to evaluate the trachea and main bronchi morphometry in the pediatric population. In our study, aged 0-16 years of a total of 240 pediatric patients were analyzed retrospectively thorax images with multidetector computed tomography. Trachea and main bronchi angle, diameter and length measurements were made in the coronal and axial planes. The cases were evaluated separately according to their trachea shapes, genders and age groups. As a result of statistical analysis, it was determined that diameter and length measurements increased in direct proportion to age, while the angle of entry of the left main bronchus decreased inversely with age. It was also observed that the angle of entry of right main bronchus was steeper than that of left main bronchus. In all parameters, men's measurements were larger than women's. However, significant statistical differences were found only in begining of trachea and bifurcatio trachea anteroposterior diameters. Finally, trachea shapes of all cases were determined that 87.5% were round and 12.5% were flat-shaped. As a result, we found that the diameter and length measurements in our study increased depending on age. The morphometric scale of the pediatric population was created. These results may help to identify airway anomalies in the pediatric population, to reduce complications that may occur in clinical and surgical applications, and to plan treatment. Keywords: Anatomy, Main Bronchus, Morphometry, Multidetector Computed Tomography, Pediatrics, Trachea