Table 1.

Verbatim excerpt of the TNM system’s anatomical criteria for defining regional nodal stations 2, 5, 7, and 13 (reproduced by permission of the American College of Chest Physicians) [2,3]

Station	Anatomical criteria
2	Nodes lying above a horizontal line drawn tangential to the upper margin of the aortic arch and below the inferior boundary of station 1 nodes
5	Subaortic nodes are lateral to the ligamentum arteriosum or the aorta or left pulmonary artery and proximal to the first branch of the left pulmonary artery and lie within the mediastinal pleural envelope
7	Nodes lying caudal to the carina of the trachea but not associated with the lower lobe bronchi or arteries within the lung
13	Nodes adjacent to the segmental bronchi

The complete set describes 14 stations