Fig. 4.

Topographical distribution of Macklin effect and temporal interval before pneumothorax/pneumomediastinum occurrence.

[a] According to the bronchial order (lobar [green dots, upper line], segmental [blue dots, mid line] or subsegmental [red dots, lower line]) most adjacent to the Macklin effect observed, the smaller the bronchovascular sheath involved, the longer the temporal advance before pneumothorax/pneumomediastinum (p < 0.001, R = − 0.896). Each dot represents a patient with Macklin effect on baseline CT scan; larger dots means that multiple patients with Macklin effect share the same temporal advance before pneumothorax/pneumomediastinum development.

[b] Kaplan Meier curve demonstrating statistically significant difference between patients with “centrally-distributed” Macklin effect and those with “peripherally-distributed” Macklin effect in terms of temporal interval before pneumothorax/pneumomediastinum occurrence. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)