Abstract
One hundred and sixty-one normal infants underwent mediastinal examination to determine the variations in size of the thymus with age and sex. The longest craniocaudal extent was measured in longitudinal scans. The maximum transverse dimension and anteroposterior dimension of the right and left lobes were measured during expiration in the scan in which the largest maximum transverse dimension was obtained. Infants were grouped according to their ages in months and mean values of thymic measurements in each group were calculated. Our measurements showed that the thymus grows during the first months of life. The craniocaudal extent and maximum tranverse dimension reached their maximum values at about the fourth month; for the anteroposterior dimensions the greatest sizes of the right and left lobes were reached at the fourth and third months, respectively. Between 4 and 9 months only small variations in size and then a gradual decrease in all thymic dimensions were observed. At the eleventh month, while the craniocaudal extent and maximum transverse dimension returned to their size in newborns, the anteroposterior dimensions were less than the newborn size. No significant difference was found between the mean values for each sex, irrespective of age.
Published Version
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