The Prevalence of Azygos Lobe Incidentally Detected on Lung X-ray in Male Police Vocational School Students: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Aim: Azygos lobe (AL) is a rare congenital anomaly that is usually located at the apex of the right lung. It is mostly asymptomatic and does not require special treatment. However, it should be kept in mind in the differential diagnosis of lung lesions and its presence should be determined before thoracic operations. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the prevalence of AL in a sample of male police vocational high school students. Material and Methods: 1623 male police vocational high school students who applied to Erzincan Binali Yildirim University Faculty of Medicine Chest Diseases Polyclinic between October 1, 2020 and October 31, 2021 were included in our study. The presence of AL was investigated in the posteroanterior chest X-ray of the students and the prevalence was calculated. In addition, the regional distribution of the students according to their place of birth, and other chest deformities detected in the physical examinations were determined and their relationship with the frequency of AL was investigated. Results: The mean age of 1623 students included in the study was 25.6±2.4. AL was detected in 29 people and the prevalence of AL was calculated as 1.8%. Although 21 (72.4%) of 29 students with AL were students from the Black Sea and Eastern Anatolia regions, no significant difference was found between the regions(p=0.101). The most common other chest deformity was pectus excavatum. However, no significant relationship was found between the frequency of AL and the presence of other chest deformities. (p=0.057). Conclusion: In our study, AL was detected at a higher rate compared to the prevalence studies performed with thorax CT in our country. At the same time, it was seen that AL could be detected easily with PA X-ray.