Diagnosis of Tracheal Carcinoma at Chest Radiography

Abstract

All of the 95 primary tracheal carcinomas registered in Finland during 1967 to 1985 were reviewed. Chest radiographs of 44 patients were available. A tracheal tumor was detected in 8 cases (18%) in the primary examination and according to the review all the detected tumors were larger than 15 mm. However, when the same radiographs were reexamined by a senior radiologist, the tumor was identified in the correct site in 66%. This percentage parallels the results of high kV tracheal radiography (69%) performed on 32 patients. Tumors involving anterior or posterior wall and tumors near the bifurcation were the most difficult to detect.