title: The CT appearance of lower respiratory infection due to parainfluenza virus in adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We retrospectively reviewed the CT findings of lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) due to parainfluenza virus (PIV) to determine the imaging features of PIV infection and to identify any differences compared with the CT appearances of LRTIs due to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), adenovirus, and influenza virus.
  
  
  METHODS
  The imaging features of LRTI from PIV over a 51-month period were retrospectively reviewed. The specific CT findings and overall pattern of infection in patients with LRTI due to PIV were recorded and were then compared with the CT appearances of RSV, adenovirus, and influenza LRTIs using data from a previous study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-four chest CT examinations of 24 patients with PIV infection were analyzed. Tree-in-bud opacities were the most common finding (13/24, 54%), and the airway-centric pattern of disease--characterized by combinations of bronchial wall thickening, tree-in-bud opacities, and peribronchiolar consolidation (bronchitis, bronchiolitis, and bronchopneumonia)--was the most common pattern (16/24, 67%). In comparison with previous data on RSV, adenovirus, and influenza virus, PIV showed tree-in-bud opacities and airway-centric patterns significantly more often than adenovirus or influenza virus. PIV and RSV showed similar CT findings and patterns of disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite varying CT appearances of PIV LRTI, it most often shows airway-centric disease and is similar to the appearance of RSV infection, both of which are members of the Paramyxoviridae family of viruses.
authors: Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 3400 Spruce St, Silverstein 1, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. therbst7@gmail.com
authors: Timothy
authors: T
authors: Herbst
authors: Vivianna M
authors: VM
authors: Van Deerlin
authors: Wallace T
authors: WT
authors: Miller
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003287:Contrast Media; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007472:Iohexol; D007479:Iopamidol; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018184:Paramyxoviridae Infections / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000821:virology; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000821:virology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D007472:Iohexol; D007479:Iopamidol