Narrowing the Differential Diagnosis of Cystic Lesions in Smokers with Expiratory CT Acquisition Using the Cyst-Airway Communication Hypothesis

AbstractThe aim of this study was to assess percentage respiratory changes ( δ) in the size of pulmonary cysts of different smoking-related etiologies. Retrospectively, we measured the cystic lesions due to histopathological-confirmed honeycombing from interstitial pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis (PLCH), and paraseptal emphysema, using paired ins piratory and expiratory CT scans. In a sample of 72 patients and 216 lesions, the mean diameter of PLCH and honeycombing decreased during expiration (PLCH,δ = 60.9%;p = 0.001; honeycombing,δ = 47.5%;p = 0.014). Conversely, paraseptal emphysema did not show any changes (δ = 5.2%;p = 0.34). In summary, our results demonstrated that cysts in smokers with PLCH and honeycombing fibrosis get smaller during expiratory CT scans, whereas the size of cystic-like lesions due to paraseptal emphysema and bullae tend to remain constant during respiratory cycles. These results support the hypothesis of cyst-airway communication in some cystic diseases, which could assist in the differential diagnosis in smoking-related lung diseases.
Source: Lung - Category: Respiratory Medicine Source Type: research