The right paratracheal stripe in children.

The width of the right paratracheal stripe (RPS) has been established in 
normal adults but not in normal children. The thymus and great 
vessels are relatively larger in children than in adults and could 
obscure or widen the RPS. We found that obscuration does occur 
and, therefore, the RPS is less often measurable in children than 
in adults. Widening by the thymus and great vessels, however, does 
not occur. The width of the RPS in normal children, 0.5 
to 3.0 mm, is slightly less than in adults. From this 
study of normal children and our subsequent experience with pediatric patients, 
we conclude that in a child an RPS 4 mm or 
wider is reliable evidence of disease affecting the trachea, mediastinum, or 
pleura. 