CT studies of the thoracic outlet and inlet (analysis of 117 cases)

Objective: To study the anatomy of the thoracic outlet and inlet ,and to evaluate the CT diagnosis and differential diagnosis on abnormal conditions. Methods: CT images of 117 pathologically and clinically proved cases in the zones were analyzed retrospectively. Control group contained 50 normal volunteers who were divided into 5 anatomic regions: region 1 (thyroid zone), region 2 (interior thyroid), region 3 (lateral thyroid), region 4 (posterior thyroid), and region 5 (anterior thyroid). Results: Of the 117 cases, there were 11 cases (9.40%) in region 1, 8 cases (6.84%) in region 2, 72 cases (61.54%) in region 3, 1 case (0.85%) in region 4, 3 cases (2.56%) in region 5, 15 cases (12.8%) in transregions (region 1, 3, 5), and 7 cases (5.98%) in transregions (region 1, 2, 3). The disorders were mainly distributed in region 3, in which lymphatic node abnormalities were the most common (55 cases). The 32 cases of abnormal thyroid gland were mainly located in region 1 and involved with other regions. Conclusion: The 5 regions divided on CT anatomy of the thoracic outlet and inlet are very useful for the localization and definition in the diagnosis, which have important clinical value