Main bronchial diameters in patients with very severe COPD

Purpose This retrospective study was performed in order to determine if patients with very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have larger main bronchi than patients with less severe disease. Methods Charts of patients having had a spirometric evaluation of their COPD and a digitized thin-slice computed tomography (CT) scan between January 2004 and September 2007 were reviewed. Adequate CT scans of male patients [i.e., those allowing a multiplane reconstruction (MPR) of the upper tracheobronchial tree using a double orthogonal oblique method] were divided into two groups: group 1 [forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV 1 ) ranging from 30% to 80%] and group 2 (FEV 1