[en] We present the case of a 10-month-old boy with multisystem Langerhans cell histiocytosis showing thin-walled lung cysts along with computed tomography (CT) evidence of persistent pulmonary interstitial emphysema (PPIE), in the absence of pneumothorax or pneumomediastinum. Follow-up CT performed after 6 months demonstrated complete resolution of interstitial emphysema

No abstract available

[en] Aim: To evaluate the impact of inspiratory effort and emphysema on reproducibility of pulmonary nodule volumetry. Materials and methods: Eighty-eight nodules in 24 patients with emphysema were studied retrospectively. All patients had undergone volumetric inspiratory and end-expiratory thoracic computed tomography (CT) for consideration of bronchoscopic lung volume reduction. Inspiratory and expiratory nodule volumes were measured using commercially available software. Local emphysema extent was established by analysing a segmentation area extended circumferentially around each nodule (quantified as percent of lung with density of –950 HU or less). Lung volumes were established using the same software. Differences in inspiratory and expiratory nodule volumes were illustrated using the Bland–Altman test. The influences of percentage reduction in lung volume at expiration, local emphysema extent, and nodule size on nodule volume variability were tested with multiple linear regression. Results: The majority of nodules (59/88 [67%]) showed an increased volume at expiration. Mean difference in nodule volume between expiration and inspiration was +7.5% (95% confidence interval: –24.1, 39.1%). No relationships were demonstrated between nodule volume variability and emphysema extent, degree of expiration, or nodule size. Conclusion: Expiration causes a modest increase in volumetry-derived nodule volumes; however, the effect is unpredictable. Local emphysema extent had no significant effect on volume variability in the present cohort. - Highlights: • Reproducible assessment of nodule volume is essential for identification of nodule growth. • Expiratory CT causes a modest but unpredictable increase in nodule volume. • Emphysema surrounding nodules has no significant effect on nodule volume measurements.

[en] Background. Multidetector spiral computed tomography (CT) has opened the possibility of quantitative evaluation of emphysema extent in the whole lung. Visual assessment can be used for such a purpose, but its reproducibility has not been established. Purpose. To assess agreement of detailed assessment of pulmonary emphysema on whole-lung CT using a visual scale. Material and Methods. Thirty patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease underwent whole-lung inspiratory CT. Four chest radiologists rated the same 22 ± 2 thin sections using a visual scale which defines a range of emphysema extent between 0 and 100. Two of them repeated the rating two months later. Inter- and intra-operator agreement was evaluated with the Bland and Altman method. In addition, the percentage of emphysema at -950 Hounsfield units in the whole lung was determined using fully automated commercially available software for 3D densitometry. Results. In three of six operator pairs and in one of two intra-operator pairs the Kendall t test showed a significant correlation between the difference and the average magnitude of visual scores. Among different operators the half-width of 95% limits of agreement (95% LoA) was wide ranging between a score of 14.2-27.7 for an average visual score of 20 and between 18.5-36.8 for an average visual score of 80. Within the same operator the half-width of 95% LoA ranged between a score of 10.9-21.0 for an average visual score of 20 and between 25.1-30.1 for an average visual score of 80. The visual scores of the four radiologists were correlated with the results of densitometry (P < 0.001; r = 0.65-0.81). Conclusion. The inter- and intra-operator agreement of detailed assessment of emphysema in the whole lung using a visual scale is low and decreases with increasing emphysema extent

No abstract available

[en] We present a case of intraparenchymal rupture of a mediastinal benign teratoma with focal emphysema in a 20-year-old woman. We describe the imaging and histological findings and we review the literature to explain the relationship between a benign teratoma and emphysema

[en] Imaging plays a pivotal role in the selection of patients for the surgical treatment of emphysema. In this article, the imaging features of emphysema are reviewed along with the surgical options for treatment. Particular emphasis is given to lung volume reduction surgery as this technique has gained wide acceptance within the thoracic surgical community in recent years. Radiologists need to have an understanding of which patients may be potentially suitable for this technique

[en] Emphysematous pyelonephritis is rare but frequently fatal disease that usually occurs in disease that usually occurs in diabetic patients 6 cases having been reported in Korea. We have experienced a case of simultaneously occurring emphysematous pyelonephritis and emphysematous cystitis in 54 years old female patient, which have never been reported in Korea, and got satisfactory improvement with medical treatment.

[en] Purpose: To identify the findings of high-resolution CT (HRCT) of the lung in patients with previous sulfur mustard gas exposure, and to correlate these findings with clinical and chest X-ray (CXR) results. Material and Methods: 50 consecutive patients were studied prospectively. The clinical data were recorded. Standard p.a. CXR and HRCT of the lung and spirometry were performed. The findings of CXR, HRCT and clinical and spirometry results were scored between 0 and 3 according to the severity of the findings. Results: HRCT abnormality was detected in all 50 patients (100%), while CXR was abnormal in 40 patients (80%). The most common HRCT findings was airway abnormalities (bronchial wall thickening in 100% of cases). Other important findings were suggestive of interstitial lung disease (ILD) (80%), bronchiectasis (26%), and emphysema (24%). A statistically significant correlation was found between the severity of clinical presentation and that of the HCTR scores in patients with bronchiectasis, bronchitis and ILD (p< 0.05), but not with severity scores of HRCT in patients with emphysema. No significant correlation was found between severity scores of CXR findings. HRCT evidence of bronchial wall thickening and with a lower frequency ILD were present despite normal CXR in 20% of the patients. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that bronchial wall thickening, ILD and emphysema are common chronic pulmonary sequelae of sulfur mustard injury. HRCT of the chest should be considered as the imaging modality of choice in chemical war injury

[en] Unilateral giant pulmonary interstitial emphysema (PIE) can be seen as a complication of chronic ventilation in extremely low-birth-weight babies. Many can be managed by conventional pulmonary care which includes positioning, suctioning, chest physiotherapy, gentle conventional ventilation and high-frequency ventilation. Some may need invasive procedures such as lung puncture, pleurotomies and excisional surgery. This is the group in which single-lung ventilation may be beneficial and circumvent the need for an invasive procedure. We describe the technique of single-lung ventilation using a Swan-Ganz catheter to block the main stem bronchus on the diseased side in air-leak syndromes. A retrospective chart review was done on 17 newborns undergoing single-lung ventilation using this technique at the Children's Hospital of New York, Columbia University, from 1986 to 2000. The technique was successful in the management of severe, neonatal unilateral lung disease not responsive to conventional modes of therapy in all but two neonates as seen by a significant improvement in pH and a decrease in PaCO₂ levels. In one neonate malpositioning of the Swan-Ganz catheter balloon could have contributed to the development of pneumothorax. The described technique of single-lung ventilation provides a safe, minimally invasive and economically feasible method of management of unilateral giant PIE in newborns not responsive to conventional modes of therapy with minimal complications. (orig.)