Table 2.
Distribution of the thymic density according to age.
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| THYMIC ATTENUATION ASSESSMENT | GROUP 1 (0–12 MONTHS) | GROUP 2 (1–3 YEARS) | GROUP 3 (4–6 YEARS) | GROUP 4 (7–10 YEARS) | GROUP 5 (11–14 YEARS) | GROUP 6 (15–18 YEARS) | P-VALUE | |
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| Thymic score | Score 1 | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 3 (0.6%) | p = 0.006 |
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| Score 2 | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 14 (3.0%) | p < 0.0001 | |
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| Score 3 | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 5 (1.1%) | 13 (2.8%) | 38 (8.2%) | p < 0.0001 | |
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| Score 4 | 24 (5.2%) | 94 (20.3%) | 83 (17.9%) | 67 (14.4%) | 91 (19.6%) | 32 (6.9%) | p < 0.0001 | |
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| CT attenuation values (HU) | Male | 73.7 ± 8.4 (61.2–89.3) | 75.4 ± 11.8 (53.4–104.6) | 73.4 ± 13.0 (22.9–90.2) | 67.1 ± 13.1 (22.1–90.3) | 56.2 ± 19.8 (6–93.2) | 25.0 ± 26.7 (-40.2–71.7) | pa = 0.029 |
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| Female | 70.8 ± 10.2 (58.2–81.7) | 74.8 ± 11.8 (51.1–97.5) | 72.4 ± 9.2 (58.1–94.6) | 66.8 ± 13.5 (42.1–88.6) | 63.8 ± 17.6 (20.1–93.5) | 39.2 ± 33.8 (-27.6–98.1) | pb = 0.213 | |
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| Total | 73.2 ± 8.6 (58.2–89.3) | 75.2 ± 11.7 (51.1–104.6) | 72.9 ± 11.2 (22.9–94.6) | 67.0 ± 13.2 (22.1–90.3) | 59.9 ± 19.1 (6.0–93.5) | 30.9 ± 30.5 (–40.2–98.1) | pc = 0.002 | |
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Abbreviations: Score 0, complete fatty replacement; Score 1, mainly fatty thymus; Score 2, 50% of fatty and 50% of the soft-tissue attenuated thymus; Score 3, mainly soft-tissue attenuated thymus;
Data are expressed as number (n) and percentage (%); mean ± standard deviation (SD), range (minimum to maximum value);
p – values for comparing each thymic score between age groups;
pa – values for comparing CT attenuation values among boys between age groups;
pb – values for comparing CT attenuation values among girls between age groups;
pc – values for comparing CT attenuation values between age groups;
p – values were obtained using the Chi-square test and ANOVA – post hoc Bonferroni test; p – values <0.05 were considered significant.