Research Article
Relationship of Sternal Foramina to Vital Structures of the Chest: A Computed Tomographic Study
Table 1
Complete data of the 15 examined patients.
| Patient | Age (years) | Structure directly adjacent to the foramen | Width of foramen (mm) | Thickness of subcutaneous fat (cm) | Distance from foramen to a vital structure | Distance from the skin to the pericardium (cm) |
| 1 | 69 | Lung | 5 | 2.2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 51 | Lung | 0.5 | 1.8 | 0 | 5.3 | 3 | 63 | Lung | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5.1 | 4 | 90 | Mediastinal fat | 3.8 | 2.1 | 4.7 | 7.4 | 5 | 55 | Lung | 2 | 1.1 | 0 | 3.7 | 6 | 58 | Mediastinal Fat | 2.8 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 3.1 | 7 | 83 | Pericard/heart | 4.3 | 1.7 | 1 | 3.9 | 8 | 69 | Lung | 2.7 | 0.8 | 0 | 4.5 | 9 | 88 | Pericard/heart | 5 | 1.9 | 0 | 2.9 | 10 | 85 | Pericard/heart | 1.4 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 3 | 11 | 72 | Lung | 3.4 | 1.5 | 0 | 9.1 | 12 | 57 | Mediastinal fat | 2.1 | 0.8 | 2.7 | 4.2 | 13 | 83 | Mediastinal fat | 5 | 1.3 | 2.8 | 5.2 | 14 | 70 | Lung | 1 | 2.1 | 0 | 5.5 | 15 | 49 | Lung | 10 | 1.9 | 0 | 5.6 |
| Mean | 69.5 | | 3.3 | | | 4.96 |
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