High resolution CT assessment of the pediatric airways: Structure and function

The airway has always been a central focus for respiratory pathology in infants and children. Imaging of the larynx, trachea and the central bronchi can be readily accomplished by radiographic or conventional CT techniques. Newer high resolution CT (HRCT) techniques have extended our view of the bronchi peripherally to the limits of scanner resolution, ie. to bronchial generations 7-9, and rapid volumetric CT data acquisitions have made it possible to follow the same lung anatomic level through the rapidly occurring changes in a series of experimental protocols. These techniques together with a custom designed computer software program for image display and analysis have enabled us to objectively study changes in airway caliber and lung density which occurred in an animal model of airway reactivity and thereby relate structure with function in the airways.