AJR. American journal of roentgenology
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Seven patients with suspected recurrent tumor who had undergone pneumonectomy for carcinoma of the lung were studied by computed tomography (CT) to evaluate the location, extent, and nature of the tumor. In six patients with proven recurrence in the chest, CT demonstrated the tumor in five, four as a mass near the bronchial stump and one as a parasternal mass. (In one patient, surgical clip artifacts prevented interpretation). This information was useful in planning radiation therapy treatments in four patients.
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Most computed tomographic (CT) scans of the chest show the inferior pulmonary ligament and an associated septum in the lower lobe, although CT descriptions of these structures have not been reported. Conventional radiography of the ligament has relied on indirect signs: the position of the lower lobe in the presence of pneumothorax or pleural effusion, soft-tissue peaks along the upper surface of the diaphragm, and the rare traumatic paramediastinal pneumatocele (attributed to air in the ligament). CT clarifies the anatomic relations of the ligament and alterations caused by pleural effusion and pneumothorax. The ligament is probably responsible for some long linear shadows at the lung bases, and CT helps to distinguish these from scars, walls of bullae, and normal structures such as the phrenic nerve and the interlobar fissures.
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Adrenal masses are described in seven cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in a series of 173 patients. In all seven patients the lymphoma was diffuse rather than nodular. Three patients had adrenal masses at the time of presentation, whereas in four cases the adrenal gland was a site of tumor recurrence after therapy. ⋯ No characteristic features were recognized that might have distinguished these tumors from other adrenal masses. Appropriate therapy successfully resolved the adrenal masses in all but one case. The latter patient was the only one with evidence of adrenal insufficiency.