Ground-glass opacities and consolidations in one or both lungs may resemble pneumonia
FRIDAY, Oct. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Ground-glass opacities (GGOs) in one or both lungs with consolidation are the most common computed radiographic (CR) and computed tomography (CT) images of patients with swine-origin influenza A (S-OIV), according to a study to be published in the December issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.
Amr M. Ajlan, M.D., of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and colleagues performed CR on seven patients with confirmed swine flu (H1N1) with three of the patients also receiving Multidetector Computed Tomography (MDCT). Six patients had follow-up CR, and one patient had MDCT follow-up. The images were assessed for GGOs, nodular opacities, reticular opacities, tree-in-bud pattern, consolidation, and septal lines.
The researchers found that four of the seven patients had normal images in initial CR, two had bilateral diffuse GGOs (one with consolidation), and one had unilateral focal GGOs. In follow-up radiography of six patients, only one patient remained normal, while others variously had unilateral and bilateral focal or diffuse GGOs, all with consolidation. In initial MDCT of three patients, one patient had a normal image, while two had bilateral multifocal GGOs and consolidation in peribronchovascular, as well as one with subpleural distribution.
"The most common radiographic and CT findings in seven patients with S-OIV infection are unilateral or bilateral GGOs with or without associated focal or multifocal areas of consolidation. On MDCT, the GGOs and areas of consolidation had a predominant peribronchovascular and subpleural distribution, resembling organizing pneumonia," the authors write.
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