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Tuberculosis is an infectious disease mostly due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It is frequent in developing countries and its incidence is rising in developed countries. Lungs are the most involved organs of the chest but other structures can be affected. Imaging is fundamental in the management of the disease. Confirmation of diagnosis can be made only by bacteriologic and/or histologic exams. The first approach of diagnosis is based on clinical symptoms and chest X-ray signs. Radiologic signs depend on patient's age, his immune status and his previous contact with M. tuberculosis. Conventional chest X-ray remains the first-line exam to realize. It can suggest the diagnosis on the appearance and location of the lesions. CT scan is recommended for the positive diagnosis in case of discrepancy between clinical and radiographic signs, as for the diagnosis of parenchymal, vascular, lymph nodes, pleural, parietal or mediastinal complications. It is also essential for the evaluation of parenchyma sequelae. MRI and PET-scan have limited indications. The purpose of this article is to illustrate different radiological forms of chest tuberculosis, its sequelae and complications and to highlight the role of each imaging technique in the patient's management.

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OBJECTIVES: Illustrate imaging aspects of pulmonary artery involvement in Takayasu's arteritis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Retrospective study of six patients among 28 patients with Takayasu arteritis whose disease involved the pulmonary arteries and to review their clinical and computed tomography data. RESULTS: Mean patient age among those with pulmonary artery involvement was 34 years. All patients exhibited extensive lesions of systemic arteries. The most common computed tomography angiography sign was wall thickening. Dilatation of the pulmonary artery trunk was observed in one-third of cases. CONCLUSION: Pulmonary arterial involvement in Takayasu's disease is not uncommon. Computed tomography is a reliable imaging technique to establish the diagnosis.

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INTRODUCTION: The successive occurrence of pericardial tamponade and myocarditis during a Churg-Strauss syndrome is exceptionally described. We report a patient in whom pericardial tamponade and myocarditis were the presenting manifestation of a Churg-Strauss syndrome. CASE REPORT: A 58-year-old woman was admitted because of alteration of the clinical status with eosinophilia. One month ago, she was hospitalized for a pericardial tamponade treated by pericardial drainage. Acute myocarditis was diagnosed on chest pain during the second hospitalization. The etiologic inquiry ended in the diagnosis of Churg-Strauss complicated with a double cardiac involvement. A good response of clinical and biological anomalies was obtained after corticosteroid and immunosuppressive treatment. CONCLUSION: Isolated or multiple involvements of cardiac tunics should lead to make diagnosis of systemic vasculitis. A complete initial assessment and a close observation of the patients followed for Churg-Strauss syndrome is imperative to detect a cardiac achievement and set up an early treatment.

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Small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) typically is central in location. It is a very aggressive tumor characterized by its propensity for invasion of mediastinal structures, frequently, the ipsilateral pulmonary artery, multifocal nodal metastases and high frequency of distant metastases at initial presentation. CT is very sensitive and effective for local and regional staging. Combined with other diagnostic modalities, especially PET imaging, it allows whole body imaging for accurate staging, which is mandatory for therapeutic management. The different CT imaging features of SCLC and its more specific imaging characteristics will be reviewed in this article.

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PURPOSE: Amyloidosis involvement of mediastinal nodes is rare. Isolated pseudotumoral involvement without extra-thoracic disease is a diagnostic challenge and typically raises concern for underlying malignancy. We present 3 cases of pseudotumoral mediastinal amyloidosis. METHODS: We report the cases of 3 patients presenting with recent onset of respiratory symptoms. Bronchoscopy showed mucosal infiltration suspicious for lymphangitic spread of tumor. The patients underwent chest radiography complemented by CT of the chest and abdomen, and laboratory and immunological work-up. A diagnosis of pseudotumoral mediastinal amyloidosis was confirmed by mediastinoscopic biopsy in all cases. RESULTS: CT showed a pulmonary and mediastinal tumor process in 2 cases and pericarinal tumor in 1 case. Diffuse bronchial wall thickening was present in all cases. Review of biopsy material showed tracheobronchial amyloidosis in 1 case. Patient work-up showed no evidence of extra-thoracic amyloidosis. Rapid progression of bronchial obstruction was observed in 1 case. CONCLUSION: The imaging features of mediastinal amyloidosis are non-specific. Pseudotumoral involvement of mediastinal nodes associated with pulmonary amyloidosis accelerates the degree of airway obstruction.

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Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors are ubiquitous but most frequently affect the lung. The imaging features are non-specific but the diagnosis may be suggested in the presence of solitary pulmonary nodule or mass in children or young adults. The tumor may appear locally and regionally aggressive suggesting malignancy. Diagnostic confirmation is obtained from histological evaluation of the surgical specimen. Treatment is surgical with oncologic surgical resection.

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PURPOSE: Report radiographic aspects and assess the contribution of computed tomography for the diagnosis and search for extension of bronchial carcinoid tumors. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This retrospective study included 20 patients with a bronchial carcinoid tumor. The thoracic exploration included standard chest x-ray, bronchial fibroscopy, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in two patients as well as abdominal ultrasonography to search for extension, performed in all patients. RESULTS: This series included eleven females and nine males, mean age 40 years (age range 21-71 years). Signs on the plain chest x-ray were non-specific: atelectasis (75%), isolated parenchymatous opacity (15%); CT revealed a proximal mass in 85% which was obstructive leading to ventilatory disorders in 80%. CT revealed secondary ventilatory disorders with no individualized mass in one patients (5%), an isolated parenchymatous mass in two (10%) and a endobronchial budding at the origin of the right bronchus with no noted ventilatory disorder in one patient (5%) Tumor calcifications were detected in 30% of patients. Histological there were 17 typical carcinoid tumors and three atypical tumors which were different by their size, locoregional and distant metastatic spread. CONCLUSION: CT is indispensable for positive diagnosis, and topographic localization of extension of bronchial carcinoid tumors. The main contribution of CT compared with fibroscopy is to demonstrate exobronchial tumor development and upstream pulmonary complications.

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Pulmonary hyalinizing granuloma is a rare fibrosing nodular disease of the lung characterized by solitary or multiples pulmonary nodules. This report describes two cases of this rare disorder. MRI was available in one case. For the first case, the stability of the lesions and past history of retroperitoneal fibrosis suggested the diagnosis. For the second case, open lung biopsy was required for diagnosis. When multiple nodules are present, metastatic disease cannot be excluded and biopsy may be required. Evolution is usually benign but follow up is necessary.

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INTRODUCTION: Sarcoidosis is a systemic disease of unknown aetiology that includes a pulmonary or mediastinal component in 90% of cases. The aim of this study is to clarify the contribution of thoracic CT scanning in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of sarcoidosis and its role in the follow-up and the evaluation of the activity of the disease. METHODS: It is a retrospective study of 39 patients with histologically confirmed sarcoidosis. All patients had one or more thoracic CT scans. RESULTS: The most common parenchymatous lesions were lymphatic micronodules and peri-bronchovascular thickening. The right paratracheal chain and the hilar nodes were the most frequently involved. CONCLUSIONS: The CT scan is better than the chest x-ray at studying the parenchymal lesions and lymph node involvement in sarcoidosis. It helps in the differential diagnosis of sarcoidosis and other granulomatous disorders, especially tuberculosis. It also allows follow up of patients for the detection of complications, particularly fibrosis. Its role in the assessment of disease activity remains controversial.

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The chest wall is an uncommon localization for hydatid disease even in countries where echinococcosis is endemic. Only isolated sporadic cases have been reported in the literature. We reviewed retrospectively 15 patients who underwent surgery for chest wall hydatid disease. Various imaging techniques were used for diagnosis of our cases. These included chest radiograph, thoracic ultrasonography, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Hydatid cyst involved soft tissues (n=5), ribs and vertebrae (n=5), ribs (n=4) and sternum (n=1). Imaging techniques were of value for diagnosis (radiographs and sonography) and for evaluation of the extent of involvement (CT and MRI). Chest wall hydatidosis requires surgical treatment but recurrence is frequent.

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Tracheobronchopathia osteochondroplastica (TO) is a rare benign disorder affecting the trachea and occasionally the bronchi. We report a case of TO presenting as a respiratory insufficiency. Chest radiograph revealed an irregular narrowing of the intra thoracic trachea and a parenchymal consolidation of the left lower lobe. Magnetic resonance examination of the chest showed a diffuse irregular thickening of the trachea and central bronchi, which had an intermediate signal intensity with punctiform low signal intensity suggesting calcifications and no contrast enhancement. The diagnosis was confirmed by bronchoscopy and biopsies.

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Tuberculosis of the lung bases is a rare condition that can mimic pneumonia, bronchial carcinoma, lung abscess or bronchiectasis. Diagnostic delays, that can lead to serious complications not amenable to surgical resection, are often the result of repeatedly negative bacteriological examinations. We report a series of 10 cases of tuberculosis of the lung bases collected between 1993 and 1998 that were examined by computerised tomography. The chest x-ray most commonly showed a heterogeneous opacity. On the CT scan this corresponded with an area of alveolar consolidation which, when it was associated with centrilobular micronodules and cavitated nodules and masses, suggested the diagnosis of basal tuberculosis. Indeed the absence of apical lesions and the frequency of involvement of mediastinal and bronchial lymph nodes support the hypothesis of bronchial dissemination of the bacilli from tuberculous nodes. This explanation is supported by the high incidence of endobronchial lesions found at bronchoscopy in this form of tuberculosis.

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Bronchogenic lung cysts are exceptional. We report four cases which raised a problem of differential diagnosis. Our patients included four women and a young boy (age range 12 - 36 years). The first patient consulted for bloody purulent sputum in a context of an infectious syndrome. The second patient had lower right-sided chest pain. The cyst was a fortuitous discovery in the other two cases. In one case, the chest x-ray disclosed a thin-walled cavity of the upper right lobe, confirmed on the CT scan which also evidenced intracavitary partitions. In two other cases, the chest x-ray showed a liquid-filled opacity (one in the lower right lobe and the other in the upper right lobe) and no further specificity on the CT scan. In the last case, a liquid-air cavity was evidenced. Upper right lobectomy was performed for the case with an air-filled cavity and tumorectomy for the other cases. Pathology reported bronchogenic cyst in all cases. The radiological and clinical presentations observed in patients with bronchogenic lung cysts, with or without tracheobronchial communication, are polymorphous, often raising problems of differential diagnosis.

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Hydatid cysts of the thigh are uncommon in our country despite a high frequency of hydatic disease which is estimated to affect 5.33% of the general population. Diagnosis is usually made late in the clinical course. Ultrasonography, CT scan and magnetic resonance imaging are the most helpful diagnostic tools. We report a case of a 76-year-old female smoker who had undergone surgery for a hydatic cyst of the right lung at the age of 56 years. In June 1997, the patient was admitted for decompensation of chronic obstructive lung disease. Physical examination revealed a 6 cm painless mass in the right thigh which had developed progressively over the last year. Ultrasonography showed multiple hydatic cysts. Magnetic resonance imaging confirmed the diagnosis, showing interconnected multivesicular cystic formations. Medical treatment was given due to respiratory failure and patient refusal of a surgical procedure.

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The authors present a case of left unilobar Caroli's disease in a 83-year-old-woman associated with a Jaccoud's arthropathy of the hands. The role of repeated episodes of cholangitis and genetic tendency is discussed...

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Four patients with solitary or multiple splenic fluid collections were treated by ultrasound guided percutaneous needle aspiration and drainage. There was one unilocular abscess, three infected hematomas, one large hematoma and a complex lesion with locular and perisplenic involvement. Percutaneous drainage and antibiotics were curative in one patient. Splenectomy was performed because of persistent fever and drainage of pus after 15 days in one case and recurrence of hematoma in an other case. Solitary fluid collection can be effectively treated by ultrasound or computed tomography guided percutaneous drainage. Hematoma represents a cause of failure of percutaneous drainage.

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