Radiographic Study of Variation in Diaphragm Position of Adult Nigerians

Abstract

Humans all over the world, though being of the same species (Homo sapiens), differ from each other in some aspects due to differences in the genetic make-up, adaptation to varying environmental conditions or mutation, etc. This research work was carried out to study the variation in the diaphragm position of adult Nigerians using normal PA chest radiographs. A total of 500 samples (298 females and 202 males), obtained from the Radiology Department of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital were used. The variation in the diaphragm position was measured relative to the following anatomic landmarks; thoracic vertebra, crossing rib and lung height. For descriptive analysis SPSS version 24 software package was used, and Z- test to test for significance. This study showed that the variation of diaphragm position in adult Nigerians was statistically significant (p<0.05) and the diaphragm position of females was higher than males. These findings will be very useful to the cardiothoracic surgeons, radiologist and the clinical anatomist.