 |
Vol.48 No.7 contents | Japanese/English |
 | Full Text of PDF (1094K) Article in Japanese |
- Original Article -
Bubble-like Appearances Are Characteristic Thin-section CT Findings of Adenocarcinoma
Yoko Kojima1, Haruhiro Saito1, Hiroyuki Ito1, Tetsuro Kondo1, Fumihiro Oshita1, Haruhiko Nakayama1, Tomoyuki Yokose2, Yoichi Kameda2, Kazumasa Noda1, Kouzo Yamada11Department of Thoracic Oncology, 2Department of Pathology, Kanagawa Cancer Center, Japan
Background. Adenocarcinomas are often diagnosed as old inflammatory lesions which are sometimes overlooked. Some of these adenocarcinomas display characteristic thin-section computed tomography (TS-CT) findings. We reported on these bubble-like appearances (BLA) (Saito H, et al. JJSRE. 2004; 26: 346-351). We studied the BLA characteristics of adenocarcinomas. Method. We reviewed the TS-CT findings of 17 (6 men, 11 women) cases of adenocarcinoma with bubble-like appearances. All 17 patients had undergone surgery between August 2003 and March 2007. We studied correlations between the TS-CT findings, the pathological findings and the clinical characteristics. Results. The average tumor diameter was 35.4 mm. The definition of BLA is; (1) having a irregular shape with straight margins, (2) peripheral ground-glass opacity (GGO), (3) dilated air bronchograms (more than 3), (4) prominent pleural indentation. The pathological characteristics of tumors with BLA were; (1) peripheral bronchioloalveolar cell carcinoma (BAC) patterns, (2) almost total collapse (about 80% of the tumor area), and (3) several ectatic small bronchi. Six cases were initially overlooked, because the TS-CT findings appeared as old inflammation. The average tumor doubling time was 1167 days. After resection, there have been no recurrences. Conclusion. On TS-CT images, BLA type adenocarcinomas appear as irregular in shape and they have a very slow doubling time. These types of lesions require careful attention because they are often diagnosed as old inflammatory scarring.
key words: Bubble-like appearance, Adenocarcinoma, Thin-section CT, Collapse, Bronchioloalveolar cell carcinoma
Received: August 11, 2008
Accepted: October 21, 2008
JJLC 48 (7): 801-806, 2008
