Congenital anomalies of the lungs in adults: MR diagnosis

Lung Cancer

“…Bronchial atresia is an uncommon anomaly characterized by focal obliteration of the bronchial lumen and the absence of communication between lobar, segmental, or subsegmental bronchi and the central airway (Meng et al 1978;Jederlinic et al 1987;Finck and Milne 1988;Naidich et al 1988;Bailey et al 1990;Ko et al 1998;Matsushima et al 2002). Mucus secreted within the patent airways distal to the point of atresia accumulates in the form of a plug or bronchocele which appears as a pulmonary nodule or mass (Finck and Milne 1988;Naidich et al 1988;Bailey et al 1990;Ko et al 1998;Matsushima et al 2002).…”

“…Bronchial atresia is an uncommon anomaly characterized by focal obliteration of the bronchial lumen and the absence of communication between lobar, segmental, or subsegmental bronchi and the central airway (Meng et al 1978;Jederlinic et al 1987;Finck and Milne 1988;Naidich et al 1988;Bailey et al 1990;Ko et al 1998;Matsushima et al 2002). Mucus secreted within the patent airways distal to the point of atresia accumulates in the form of a plug or bronchocele which appears as a pulmonary nodule or mass (Finck and Milne 1988;Naidich et al 1988;Bailey et al 1990;Ko et al 1998;Matsushima et al 2002). The MR image of bronchoceles reportedly appears as a branching lesion with high signal intensity on T1-and T2-weighted images due to the dilated mucus-filled bronchi and mucocele formation distal to the atelectatic segment (Finck and Milne 1988;Naidich et al 1988;Bailey et al 1990;Ko et al 1998;Matsushima et al 2002) (Fig.…”

Lung Diseases - Selected State of the Art Reviews

“…MRI shows a very high signal intensity within the bronchocele on T1W and T2W modes due to mucoid contents; however, it cannot depict regional air-trapping (Matsushima et al, 2003) and it does not have the same sensivity as computed tomography to evaluate the lung parenchyma (Naidich et al, 1988). So this technique has a limited role in the diagnosis of congenital brochial atresia, although a small number of case reports have dealt specifically with differential diagnosis and have established its value.…”

Middle mediastinal lesions: imaging findings and pathologic correlation

“…They contain mucoid material of variable viscosity that causes CT attenuation to vary from that of water to soft tissue [9]. At MR, high-signal intensity is seen characteristically within cysts on T2-weighted image although variable signal intensities with different proportions of protein and/or hemorrhage in the cysts are observed on T1-weighted image [10] (Figs. 6 and 7).…”