Accessory fissures of the lung: evaluation with multiplanar reformation on 64-slice spiral CT / 中华放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To classify the accessory fissures and assess the frequency of accessory fissures of the lung by 64-slice spiral CT (MSCT). Methods Of 2664 patients, 847 patients were included in this study excluding the patients with pulmonary parenchymal distortion, pleural disease or lobectomy. Allvolume raw data with a slice thickness of 0.6 mm were reformatted in sagittal and coronal orientations with 3 mm thickness and the accessory fissures were assessed. Results A total of 177 accessory fissures in 144 patients (17.0%) were detected. Most of the accessory fissures were incomplete except 10 fissures on the right lung (8.2%) and 2 fissures on the left lung (3.6%) were complete. The most common fissurewas the superior accessory fissure on the right low lobe (n = 112,13.2%) ,followed by the left minor fissure (n= 51,6.0%), the right inferior accessory fissure( n = 6,0. 7% ), the left superior accessory fissure ( n =4, 0.5%), the azygos fissure (n = 3,0.4%) and the accessory fissure on the right upper and middle lobe(n = 1,0.1%). Conclusion 64-slice CT is an efficient method to observe and classify the accessory fissures of the lung with MPR technique and can provide reliable and useful imaging information for the clinician.