OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to quantify and characterize the air-containing thoracic esophagus on CT to help diagnose diseases and facilitate correlation with lung diseases that may be associated with aspiration. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The maximal air-containing esophageal lumina on each section of standard CT scans of 110 subjects were measured. These subjects came from a cohort of 10,132 self-reported healthy individuals who underwent CT for measurement of coronary artery calcium. Measurements were interpolated to account for variation in the length of the thoraces. RESULTS: Greater than 60% of the esophageal segments contained no air. On average the maximum air column was 10.5 (SD, 5.0) mm. Only 7.9% of the lumina were > 10 mm. Only 2% were > 15 mm, and only 0.2% were > 20 mm. The average number of lumina > 10 mm as a proportion of the entire esophageal length was 8% (14%). The average size at the carina was 2.6 (4.1) mm. In the upper 30% and from 61% to 75% down the length of the esophagus, < 5% of the lumina were > 10 mm. Less than 3% of subjects had air in the lowest two sections, indicating that the normal lower esophageal sphincter was closed. CONCLUSION: Esophageal air of > 10 mm should be considered abnormal in all segments except between the cardiac ventricles and lower esophageal sphincter. In this area, > 15 mm should be considered abnormal. An air-fluid level is abnormal.
OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to quantify and characterize the air-containing thoracic esophagus on CT to help diagnose diseases and facilitate correlation with lung diseases that may be associated with aspiration. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The maximal air-containing esophageal lumina on each section of standard CT scans of 110 subjects were measured. These subjects came from a cohort of 10,132 self-reported healthy individuals who underwent CT for measurement of coronary artery calcium. Measurements were interpolated to account for variation in the length of the thoraces. RESULTS: Greater than 60% of the esophageal segments contained no air. On average the maximum air column was 10.5 (SD, 5.0) mm. Only 7.9% of the lumina were > 10 mm. Only 2% were > 15 mm, and only 0.2% were > 20 mm. The average number of lumina > 10 mm as a proportion of the entire esophageal length was 8% (14%). The average size at the carina was 2.6 (4.1) mm. In the upper 30% and from 61% to 75% down the length of the esophagus, < 5% of the lumina were > 10 mm. Less than 3% of subjects had air in the lowest two sections, indicating that the normal lower esophageal sphincter was closed. CONCLUSION: Esophageal air of > 10 mm should be considered abnormal in all segments except between the cardiac ventricles and lower esophageal sphincter. In this area, > 15 mm should be considered abnormal. An air-fluid level is abnormal.
Authors: Joyce S Lee; Harold R Collard; Ganesh Raghu; Matthew P Sweet; Steven R Hays; Guilherme M Campos; Jeffrey A Golden; Talmadge E King Journal: Am J Med Date: 2010-04 Impact factor: 4.965
Authors: Joshua S Niedzielski; Jinzhong Yang; Francesco Stingo; Mary K Martel; Radhe Mohan; Daniel R Gomez; Tina M Briere; Zhongxing Liao; Laurence E Court Journal: Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys Date: 2015-10-14 Impact factor: 7.038
Authors: Catherine H Miele; Kristin Schwab; Rajeev Saggar; Erin Duffy; David Elashoff; Chi-Hong Tseng; Sam Weigt; Deepshikha Charan; Fereidoun Abtin; Jimmy Johannes; Ariss Derhovanessian; Jeffrey Conklin; Kevin Ghassemi; Dinesh Khanna; Osama Siddiqui; Abbas Ardehali; Curtis Hunter; Murray Kwon; Reshma Biniwale; Michelle Lo; Elizabeth Volkmann; David Torres Barba; John A Belperio; David Sayah; Thomas Mahrer; Daniel E Furst; Suzanne Kafaja; Philip Clements; Michael Shino; Aric Gregson; Bernard Kubak; Joseph P Lynch; David Ross; Rajan Saggar Journal: Ann Am Thorac Soc Date: 2016-06
Authors: Jaclyn N Taroni; Viktor Martyanov; Chiang-Ching Huang; J Matthew Mahoney; Ikuo Hirano; Brandon Shetuni; Guang-Yu Yang; Darren Brenner; Barbara Jung; Tammara A Wood; Swati Bhattacharyya; Orit Almagor; Jungwha Lee; Arlene Sirajuddin; John Varga; Rowland W Chang; Michael L Whitfield; Monique Hinchcliff Journal: Arthritis Res Ther Date: 2015-07-29 Impact factor: 5.156