Association of age with computed tomography airway tree morphology in male and female never smokers without lung disease history.

BACKGROUND

Sex and aging may affect the airway tree structure in patients with airway diseases and even healthy subjects. Using chest computed tomography (CT), this study sought to determine whether age is associated with airway morphological features differently in healthy males and females.

METHODS

This retrospective cross-sectional study consecutively incorporated lung cancer screening CT data of asymptomatic never smokers (n = 431) without lung disease history. Luminal areas were measured at the trachea, main bronchi, bronchus intermedius, segmental and subsegmental bronchus, and the ratio of their geometric mean to total lung volume (airway-to-lung size ratio, ALR) was determined. Airway fractal dimension (AFD) and total airway count (TAC) were calculated for the segmented airway tree resolved on CT.

RESULTS

The lumen areas of the trachea, main bronchi, segmental and subsegmental airways, AFD and TAC visible on CT were smaller in females (n = 220) than in males (n = 211) after adjusting for age, height, and body mass index, while ALR or count of the 1st to 5th generation airways did not differ. Furthermore, in males but not in females, older age was associated with larger lumen sizes of the main bronchi, segmental and subsegmental airways, and ALR. In contrast, neither male nor female had any associations between age and AFD or TAC on CT.

CONCLUSION

Older age was associated with larger lumen size of the relatively central airways and ALR exclusively in males. Aging may have a more profound effect on airway lumen tree caliber in males than in females.