clarifying the most used radiological terms in chest imaging,its meaning,differential diagnosis,and pathological correlation

1. Terms for Thoracic
Imaging ..Unifying the
language.
Part I
Dr/Ahmed Bahnassy
Consultant Radiologist –RMH.
MBCHB-MD-FRCR.

2. Members of the Fleischner Society
compiled a glossary of terms for thoracic
imaging that replaces previous glossaries
published in 1984 and 1996 for thoracic
radiography and computed tomography
(CT), respectively.

3. bronchiectasis
Bronchiectasis is
irreversible
localized or diffuse
bronchial dilatation,
usually resulting from
chronic infection,
proximal airway
obstruction, or
congenital bronchial
abnormality

4. signet ring sign
This finding is
composed of a ring-
shaped opacity
representing a dilated
bronchus in cross
section and a smaller
adjacent opacity
representing its
pulmonary artery, with
the combination
resembling a signet (or
pearl) ring

5. bronchocele
A bronchocele is
bronchial
dilatation due to
retained secretions
(mucoid impaction)
usually caused by
proximal obstruction,
either congenital
(eg, bronchial atresia)
or acquired (eg,
obstructing cancer)

6. bronchocentric
This descriptor is applied to
disease that is conspicuously
centered on macroscopic
bronchovascular bundles
Examples of diseases with
a bronchocentric distribution
include :
sarcoidosis , Kaposi
sarcoma ,
and organizing pneumonia .

7. bulla
Airspace measuring
more than 1 cm—usually
several centimeters—
in diameter, sharply
demarcated by a thin wall
that is no greater
than 1 mm in thickness. A
bulla is usually
accompanied by
emphysematous
changes in the adjacent
lung.

8. cavity
A cavity is
a gas-filled space,
seen as a lucency
or low-attenuation
area, within
pulmonary
consolidation, a
mass, or a nodule

9. centrilobular emphysema
Centrilobular
emphysema
is characterized by
:destroyed
centrilobular
alveolar walls and
enlargement
of respiratory
bronchioles and
associated
alveoli

10. cyst
A cyst is any
round
circumscribed
space that is
surrounded by an
epithelial or
fibrous wall of
variable thickness

11. mycetoma
A mycetoma is a discrete
mass of intertwined
hyphae, usually of
an Aspergillus species,
matted together
by mucus, fibrin, and
cellular debris colonizing
a cavity, usually from
prior fibrocavitary
disease (eg,
tuberculosis or
sarcoidosis)

12. tree-in-bud pattern
The tree-in-bud pattern
represents
centrilobular branching
structures that
resemble a budding
tree.
The pattern reflects a
spectrum of endo-
and
peribronchiolar
disorders, including
mucoid impaction,
inflammation, and/or
fibrosis