| pubmed-article:2552514 | pubmed:abstractText | The roentgen anatomy and incidence of the most frequent pleuromediastinal lines and stripes (PML) on the sagittal chest film during the first 18 years of life are analysed. It is only on involution of the thymus that the PMLs of the superior mediastinum (anterior contact line, right paratracheal stripe, arteriovenous left subclavian lines, "aortic nipple", supra-azygous posterior pleural line) are modelled out. Between the 2nd and 6th year of life they attain their normal appearance typical for adult life. The PMLs of the posterior inferior mediastinum (paraspinal lines, infra-azygous posterior pleural line) are most frequently observed between the 6th and 18th year of life. Absence of a PML as a single finding is not pathological. Displacement, widening or opacification of a PML, specially if they affect only a segment of the PML, may be indicators of a pathological process within the mediastinum itself or in the adjacent lung or pleura. | lld:pubmed |
