Roentgenologic-pathologic correlations of miliary pulmonary metastases.
To determine the accurate localization of nodules of miliary pulmonary metastases within the secondary lobules, a Roentgenologic-pathologic study was made, using an inflated and fixed lung that was excised at autopsy from a patient who died of small cell carcinoma of the left lower lobe. Nodules in the perilobular area and nonperilobular areas were counted using 1-mm-thick specimens and their radiographs. It was found that 78% of the metastatic nodules were located in the perilobular area and 22% in the nonperilobular area. Furthermore, 13% of the metastatic nodules in the perilobular area showed tumor thrombosis in the lymphatic vessels, while none of the metastases in the perilobular area showed any tumor thrombosis. These results suggest that miliary pulmonary metastases are predominantly distributed in the perilobular area and that this finding is helpful in the diagnosis of this disease when high resolution computed tomography is used.
Awai
K
K
Department of Radiology, Hiroshima University School of Medicine, Japan.
Kato
S
S
Koba
H
H
Yamagishi
M
M
Mori
Y
Y
Suzuki
A
A
Nishioka
Y
Y
Tsuji
S
S
Azuma
K
K
Ito
K
K
D000328:Adult; D001980:Bronchi / Q000473:pathology; D018288:Carcinoma, Small Cell / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000098:blood supply; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary*; D008208:Lymphatic System / Q000473:pathology; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating / Q000473:pathology; D011650:Pulmonary Alveoli / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D011856:Radiographic Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed