Imagerie de la trachée de l'adulte

Imaging of normal and pathologic trachea at the thoracic and cervical levels is described extensively. Beside congenital abnormalities discovered in adulthood, acquired tracheal abnormalities are artificially divided in two subgroups. One group consists of diffuse abnormalities, with all but one diseases associated with a diffuse narrowing of the tracheal lumen. The other group comprises focal abnormalities that lead to tracheal stenoses of various lengths, with a postintubation stenosis as probably the most frequent cause, followed by tumours. The main modality for tracheal imaging is now multidetector-row spiral CT. This technique allows for faster volume coverage and higher spatial and temporal resolution. The improved spatial resolution impacts on both axial images and all reconstructions techniques that have become indispensable for interpretation of a vertical structure such as the trachea. Chest X-ray is no longer the frontline imaging technique. MRI has not yet reached all its potential as compared to CT.