Vol 67, No 2 (2008)
Original article
Published online: 2008-03-06
Investigations into human tracheal cartilage osseocalcineus metaplasia. I. Radiographic findings
Folia Morphol 2008;67(2):143-149.
Abstract
Osseocalcineus metaplasia (OCM) of the tracheal cartilages is well known, but
no exact data are available relating it to age and sex. To resolve this problem
we analysed tracheal teleradiograms of 99 female (age: 0.4–92; x = 59.98 ±
± 22.75 years) and 110 male patients (age: 0–83; x = 53.53 ± 19.95 years).
As the first step we estimated the percentage of trachea that had complete
lesions, those that had trace lesions and those that were unchanged in relation
to the patient’s age and sex. Secondly we determined the extent and growth
of developing lesions during the process of ageing. Data were collected for all
the cartilages, with two cartilages with trace lesions considered to be of similar
value to one cartilage with complete remodelling. This enabled us to determine
the correlation coefficient for changed cartilages and patient age and
also the dynamism of OCM in the trachea examined. The c² and Student’s
t tests were used in determining the mean differences between subgroups.
The lesions referred to above occurred in 66.35% of men and in 33.33% of
women and correlated with age (r = 0.93, p < 0.001 in men, and r = 0.27, p
< 0.01 in women). Total remodelling of the OCM occurred in the oldest age
group, when both sexes were taken into consideration, while cartilages with
trace changes were detected in the younger group of patients. The lowest
mean patient age was observed in the group without tracheal changes. Osseocalcineus
metaplasia of the tracheal cartilages was conditioned by patient age
and sex. In male patients it occurred twice as often as in females. Until the age
of 50 it occurred as much as nine times as often, while after this age it occurred
only twice as often as in female patients.
(Folia Morphol 2008; 67: 143–149)
(Folia Morphol 2008; 67: 143–149)
Keywords: tracheal cartilagemetaplasiaageingsexradiographic changes