Investigations into human tracheal cartilage osseocalcineus metaplasia III. ventro-dorsal measurement of the thickness of human tracheal cartilages

The aim of the study was to verify the hypothesis that osseocalcineus metaplasia present in the tracheal cartilage is conditioned by its thickness. The study group comprised 78 male tracheas (age ranging between 19 and 84 years, mean = 56.5 years ±12.6 years), and 69 female tracheas (age ranging between 18 and 90 years, mean = 65.3 ±14 years). Tracheal transverse segments (every 4 cm) were collected for histopathological examinations from organs fixed in 10% formalin solution. Typical paraffin specimens, 5 m thick, were measured in the horizontal position using the ocular micrometer (10 : 100 Zeiss) and Semiplan 3.2/0.10 objective. Differences between mean patient group and subgroup values were statistically verified. P = 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Osseocalcineus metaplasia occurred 2.5-fold more often in male patients, in spite of the higher mean age of female patients (p < 0.001). The average male cartilage thickness was 50.32 ±7.94 × 10–2 cm, while that of female patients was 38.44 ±4.44 × 10–2 cm (p < 0.001). The average height of male patients (168.63 ±27.14 cm) was significantly higher in comparison to female patients (157.2 ±5.78 cm) (p < 0.001). The thickness of tracheal cartilages in men was significantly greater in metaplastic tracheas than in tracheas without metaplasia, as well as in changed cartilages as compared to unchanged ones in the same trachea. Considering both genders, the thickness of tracheal cartilages positively correlated with patient age (men: +0.44; p < 0.001; women: +0.293; p < 0.014), whereas height did not correlate with cartilage thickness.