AUTHOR=Dassios Theodore , Adu John , Greenough Anne 

TITLE=Brief research report: Chest radiographic thoracic area in term ventilated infants without respiratory disease

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pediatrics

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pediatrics/articles/10.3389/fped.2022.1042341

DOI=10.3389/fped.2022.1042341

ISSN=2296-2360

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Objective</title><p>To report values of the chest radiographic thoracic area (CRTA) in ventilated, term-born infants without respiratory disease and to evaluate whether CRTA is related to demographic data at birth.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>Retrospective, observational cohort study in a tertiary neonatal unit at King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.</p><p>Newborn infants born after 36 completed weeks of gestation, ventilated for poor perinatal adaptation or hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy without respiratory disease and admitted in a recent eight-year period (2014–2022).</p><p>The CRTA was assessed by free-hand tracing of the perimeter of the thoracic area as outlined by the diaphragm and the rib cage excluding the mediastinal structures and was calculated using the Sectra PACS software.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>One hundred and twenty-one infants (75 male) were included with a median (IQR) gestation of 40 (38–41) weeks and birth weight of 3.41 (3.04–3.75) kg. The median (IQR) CRTA was 2,589 (2,167–2,943) mm<sup>2</sup> and was significantly related to birth weight (<italic>r</italic> = 0.316, <italic>p</italic> = 0.003), gestation at birth (<italic>r</italic> = 0.193, <italic>p</italic> = 0.032) and birth weight <italic>z</italic>-score (<italic>r</italic> = 0.187, <italic>p</italic> = 0.038).</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusions</title><p>We report values of the chest radiographic thoracic area in ventilated term-born infants which could be used as reference for determining respiratory disease severity.</p></sec>