The Journal of computed tomography
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Mucous secretions filling the bronchial tree may be identified on computed tomography (CT) as low-density, treelike branching structures within consolidated or collapsed lungs similar to air bronchograms. These mucous bronchograms may occur from mucoid impaction of the bronchi distal to an obstructing lesion of the bronchus, most notably bronchogenic carcinoma, and from conditions that cause impaired mucociliary transport. In most cases, thin-section CT (5 mm) will demonstrate the presence or absence of an obstructing tumor involving the bronchus and will allow a correct assessment as to the cause of the mucous bronchograms; however, on occasion mucus within the central bronchi may result in a false-positive CT diagnosis of obstructing tumor. The demonstration of mucous bronchograms within a thoracic mass indicates that the mass is consolidated or collapsed pulmonary tissue and allows distinction from pleural disease.
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Case Reports
Aortic dissection with concurrent abdominal aortic aneurysm: computed tomography diagnosis.
Thoracic aortic dissection in association with preexisting abdominal aortic aneurysm is rare. An illustrative case is presented in which an additional complication of contained aortic rupture and renal infarction occurred. Computed tomography was the primary diagnostic modality.
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Blunt trauma to the chest may result in the formation of a traumatic lung cyst. The lesion itself is innocuous and requires no special treatment. Though it is important that traumatic lung cyst not be mistaken for a more serious complication of trauma requiring aggressive management, this distinction may be difficult to make on plain chest radiographs. However, in the setting of blunt chest trauma, the computed tomography appearance of a thin-walled cystic cavity completely surrounded by lung parenchyma is diagnostic of traumatic lung cyst.
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Case Reports
Total internal carotid artery occlusion by a benign carotid body tumor: a rare occurrence.
A rare case of a carotid body tumor that completely occluded the internal carotid artery is presented. To our knowledge this is only the second such case documented by angiography. In the present computed tomography era, the role of vascular imaging in these tumors is discussed and the varied clinical presentations of these neoplasms are reviewed. The confusion between the locally malignant behavior of some of these lesions and the accepted definition of a malignant carotid body tumor is discussed.
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Case Reports
Left lobe of the liver draping around the spleen: a pitfall in computed tomography diagnosis of perisplenic hematoma.
Computed tomography scanning has become one of the prime modalities in the diagnosis of trauma to the spleen (1-6). We present three cases of potential pitfall in computed tomography scan diagnosis. In the first case, computed tomography scan showed a high-attenuation perisplenic density in the superio-lateral region of the spleen compatible with a perisplenic hematoma. ⋯ On careful screening, this was traced as part of the left lobe of the liver. The lower attenuation value of the liver was due to fatty infiltration. The importance of performing computed tomography with and without contrast infusion in these cases is discussed.