A 58-year-old woman is admitted to the emergency department with severe dyspnea. Bronchoscopy reveals that the carina is distorted and widened. Enlargement of which group of lymph nodes is most likely responsible for altering the carina?

The inferior tracheobronchial nodes are also known as the carinal nodes and are located on the inferior aspect of the carina, the site of bifurcation of the trachea. The pulmonary nodes lie on secondary bronchi. The bronchopulmonary (hilar) nodes run along the primary bronchi. The superior tracheobronchial nodes are at the junction of the bronchi and the trachea. The paratracheal nodes run along the trachea.