Keywords:
Thorax, Respiratory system, Cardiovascular system, CT-High Resolution, CT, Conventional radiography, Decision analysis, Diagnostic procedure, Experimental investigations, Pathology, Epidemiology, Inflammation
Authors:
G. Distefano1, M. Palermo2, F. Libra1, F. Tiralongo1, S. E. Torrisi1, A. Vancheri1, G. Sambataro1, A. Basile1, C. Vancheri1, S. Palmucci1; 1Catania/IT, 2Catania /IT
DOI:
10.26044/esti2019/P-0051
Results
A total of 100 patients (42 males,
58 females,
average age 56,82±16,17) with a diagnosis of sarcoidosis were analyzed; 59 patients showed a typical pattern,
whereas 41 patients had atypical findings on imaging.
In the latter subgroup we found the following HRCT features: ground-glass opacity (29,26%),
atypical nodules and masses (26,82%),
atypical lymphadenopathy (24,39%),
non-typical interstitial fibrotic alterations (16,63%),
thickening of the intralobular septa (7,31%),
airway involvement (7,31%),
and pleural involvement (2,4%); we also found a case with Reverse Halo-Sign.
Typical and atypical features may also observe in the same patients in our series,
we found that eight patients had two or more two atypia features.
The results were summarized in Table B (Figure 2); in Figure 3 the relative proportion of the single features on atypical images are shown.
In this report,
we present images of some cases of our recent observation and,
in the comments,
we propose the possible differential diagnoses (Figure 4-12).
Finding so-called atypical patterns is relatively frequent,
but seems to be variable in relation to the different case studies proposed.
In Italy,
in two previous studies,
using similar criteria to ours,
an incidence was found between 30.3% [3] and 38.3% [4].
These data seem to be slightly lower than ours,
in which patients with atypical patterns are 40%; all the studies reported in the literature,
however,
are based on small populations,
and this can contribute to data variability.
According to others Autors,
we found that atypical pattern were a little more frequent in older patients,
however in our series this tendency is not significative.