Articles
Articles are a collaborative effort to provide a single canonical page on all topics relevant to the practice of radiology. As such, articles are written and continuously improved upon by countless contributing members. Our dedicated editors oversee each edit for accuracy and style. Find out more about articles.
162 results found
Article
Pulmonary cavity
A pulmonary cavity is a collection of gas and/or fluid enclosed by a thick and often irregular wall which usually occurs when central necrotic tissue is expelled via a bronchial connection. Cavities may be single or multiple and can be isolated or associated with lung disease 12.
Terminology
P...
Article
Idiopathic interstitial pneumonias
The idiopathic interstitial pneumonias (IIPs) are diffuse interstitial lung diseases of unknown cause. They are characterized by cellular infiltration of the interstitial compartment of the lung with varying degrees of inflammation and fibrosis.
Classification
Over the years many attempts have...
Article
Pleural effusion
Pleural effusions are abnormal accumulations of fluid within the pleural space. They may result from a variety of pathological processes which overwhelm the pleura's ability to reabsorb fluid.
Terminology
"Pleural effusion" is commonly used as a catch-all term to describe any abnormal accumula...
Article
Right lower lobe collapse
Right lower lobe (RLL) collapse has distinctive features, and is usually relatively easily identified. The smaller overlying heart shadow obscures less lung compared with left lower lobe collapse.
Findings of lower lobe collapse can be grouped together as they are almost identical on both side...
Article
Mediastinal mass
Mediastinal masses may be caused by a wide variety of neoplastic and non-neoplastic pathologies. It is helpful to identify the location of the mass since this significantly reduces the breadth of the differential diagnosis.
There are four conceptual compartments of the mediastinum which are di...
Article
Pleural thickening
Pleural thickening is a descriptive term given to describe any form of thickening involving either the parietal or visceral pleura.
It can occur with both benign and malignant pleural disease. According to etiology it may be classified as:
benign pleural thickening
following recurrent inflam...
Article
Round atelectasis
Round atelectasis, also known as rounded atelectasis, folded lung or Blesovsky syndrome, is an unusual type of lung atelectasis where there is infolding of a redundant pleura. The way the lung collapses can at times give a false mass-like appearance.
Epidemiology
Associations
Round atelectasi...
Article
Cystic lung disease
Cystic lung disease is an umbrella term used to group the conditions coursing with multiple lung cysts.
Clinical presentation
The clinical presentation is an important clue to the differential diagnosis of cystic lung diseases 12.
Diseases that present with insidious dyspnea or spontaneous p...
Article
Lobar consolidation
Lobar consolidation is the term used to describe consolidation in one of the lobes of the lung. It implies an alveolar spread of disease and is most commonly due to pneumonia.
Pathology
Consolidation refers to the alveolar airspaces being filled with fluid (exudate/transudate/blood), cells (in...
Article
Cyanotic congenital heart disease
A number of entities can present as cyanotic congenital heart disease. These can be divided into those with increased (pulmonary plethora) or decreased pulmonary vascularity:
increased pulmonary vascularity
total anomalous pulmonary venous return (TAPVR) (types I and II)
transposition of the ...
Article
Dysphagia
Dysphagia refers to subjective awareness of difficulty or obstruction during swallowing. It is a relatively common and increasingly prevalent clinical problem. Odynophagia is the term for painful swallowing.
Fluoroscopy is the mainstay of imaging assessment but manometry can help evaluate the e...
Article
Right middle lobe collapse
Right middle lobe collapse (or simply termed middle lobe collapse) has distinctive features, but can be subtle on frontal chest radiographs.
For a general discussion please refer to the article on lobar collapse.
It is important to note that of all the lobes, the right middle lobe is the mo...
Article
Ground-glass opacification
Ground-glass opacification/opacity (GGO) is a descriptive term referring to an area of increased attenuation in the lung on computed tomography (CT) with preserved bronchial and vascular markings. It is a non-specific sign with a wide etiology including infection, chronic interstitial disease an...
Article
Bronchial wall thickening
Bronchial wall thickening is an imaging descriptor used to describe abnormal thickening of bronchial walls and can arise from a vast number of pathological entities. It is one of the causes of peribronchial cuffing.
The presence of bronchial wall thickening usually (but not always) implies infl...
Article
Medical devices in the thorax
Medical devices in the thorax are regularly observed by radiologists when reviewing radiographs and CT scans.
Extrathoracic devices
tubing, clamps, syringes, scissors, lying on or under the patient
rubber sheets, foam mattresses, clothing, hair braids, nipple piercings, etc., may also be visi...
Article
Unilateral pulmonary edema
Unilateral pulmonary edema represents only 2% of cardiogenic pulmonary edema with predilection for the right upper lobe and is strongly associated with severe mitral regurgitation 1,2. It is hypothesized that the regurgitation jet is directed towards the right superior pulmonary vein thus prefer...
Article
Chronic bilateral airspace opacification (differential)
Chronic bilateral airspace opacification is a subset of the differential diagnosis for airspace opacification. An exhaustive list of all possible causes of chronic bilateral airspace opacities is long, but a useful framework is as follows:
inflammatory
sarcoidosis
granulomatosis with polyangi...
Article
Diffuse pulmonary nodules
Diffuse pulmonary nodules are usually seen as multiple pulmonary nodular opacifications on a HRCT chest scan. They can signify disease processes affecting either the interstitium or the airspace. They can range from a few millimeters to up to 1 cm and when very small and numerous there can be so...
Article
Bat wing opacities (lungs)
Bat wing opacities, also known as butterfly opacities, refer to a pattern of bilateral perihilar lung shadowing. It is classically described on a frontal chest radiograph but can also refer to appearances on chest CT 3,4.
Differential diagnosis
Bat wing pulmonary opacities can be caused by:
p...
Article
Consolidation
Consolidation describes increased lung attenuation sufficient to obscure bronchial walls and blood vessels (on non-enhanced CT). Patent airways can be identified by the endoluminal gas as an air bronchogram. Consolidation can be caused by any process that evacuates alveolar air such as pneumonia...
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