Tracheal Mirror Image Artifact in Patients With Normal and Pathologic Tracheas

Ultrasonography is gaining popularity as a diagnostic imaging modality for airway pathology. Tracheal ultrasound (US) has several nuances that are important for clinicians, including imaging artifacts, which can be mistaken for pathology. Tracheal mirror image artifacts (TMIAs) occur when the US bea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Otolaryngology-head and neck surgery 2023-10, Vol.169 (4), p.1080-1082
Main Authors: Nicholas, Grace E., Dahl, John P., Otjen, Jeffrey P., Richardson, Clare M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
airway
mirror image
trachea
tracheal cartilaginous sleeve
ultrasound
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Summary:Ultrasonography is gaining popularity as a diagnostic imaging modality for airway pathology. Tracheal ultrasound (US) has several nuances that are important for clinicians, including imaging artifacts, which can be mistaken for pathology. Tracheal mirror image artifacts (TMIAs) occur when the US beam is reflected back to the transducer in a nonliner direction or with multiple timesteps. It has previously been believed that the convexity of the tracheal cartilage prevents mirror image artifacts, but in reality, the air column acts as an acoustic mirror and causes TMIA. We describe a cohort of patients with both normal and pathologic tracheas, all of whom have TMIA on the tracheal US. These artifacts are important to recognize, especially as the airway US becomes more commonplace.
ISSN:0194-5998
1097-6817
DOI:10.1002/ohn.316