Demonstration of pleural tube track tubularity.
The inflammatory reaction that is caused by the placement of a tube in the pleural space persists after tube removal and may be observed on chest roentgenograms. One radiological presentation of this reaction is a lucent stripe, which represents localized iatrogenic pneumothorax in the track of the tube. The possibility that this stripe may represent a tubular track is not generally appreciated. We report two instances in which the three-dimensional tubular nature of the tracks is demonstrated. Failure to correlate such a stripe with roentgenograms showing the previous placement of the chest tube at the site of a track may lead to confusion and potentially serious misinterpretation.
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007440:Intubation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008168:Lung / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008297:Male; D010994:Pleura / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries*; D011030:Pneumothorax / Q000628:therapy; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed