Cavity in the lung

Introduction Many diseases can form cavities during the development process. Lung cavity is a common imaging manifestation of lung diseases, especially tuberculosis. With the control of tuberculosis, the proportion of lung cavity caused by other diseases is obviously increased. When the cavity is found to be empty, you should go to the hospital as soon as possible to determine the cause as soon as possible, so as not to cause misdiagnosis and mistreatment.

Cause

The lung tissue is necrotic or liquefied, and after being discharged through the bronchus, a cavity can be formed.

The main diseases that can cause voids are:

(1) Inflammatory diseases such as lung abscess, tuberculosis, pulmonary fungal infection, etc.

(2) neoplastic diseases such as lung cancer and lung metastases.

(3) Congenital diseases, such as bronchopulmonary cysts, isolation of the lungs, etc.

(4) Pulmonary necrotizing vasculitis.

(5) Pulmonary parasitic infections.

an examination

Related inspection

Chest flat chest chest CT chest examination

The most common causes of cavities in the clinic are lung cancer, tuberculosis and lung abscess. The identification between the three should be taken seriously. The proportion of lung cancer is rising rapidly, and timely diagnosis is critical. When chest X-ray and chest CT have a hollow lesion in the lung, a preliminary diagnosis can be made based on the clinical manifestations and the imaging features of the lesion. However, the diagnosis depends on bacteriological or cytological examination, bronchoscopy, percutaneous lung biopsy and so on.

There are three types of hollow lesions in the lungs:

(1) Insect-like cavity: also known as wallless cavity, it is a simple tissue necrosis and defect, and the cavity is small. Its shape is uncertain, there is no obvious hollow wall, X-ray performance: there are many small light-transmitting areas in the solid lung field, such as insect-like. Found in cheese pneumonia.

(2) Thick-walled voids: The thickness of the cave wall exceeds 3 mm. The X-rays appear as irregularly-transparent light-transmissive areas with an increased density of exudative shadows around the voids. The inner wall is often uneven or smooth. Found in lung abscesses, tuberculosis and lung cancer. Tuberculous cavities often have no or only a small amount of liquid surface, while the lung abscess has many obvious liquid levels in the cavity. The cancerous cavity has irregular inner walls and has nodular nodules.

(3) Thin-walled voids: Thick-walled voids are transferred to the chronic phase, and the surrounding infiltration is absorbed, instead of surrounding the surrounding area of the damaged area with fibrous tissue, and a circular cavity formed by uniform traction of the lungs. The X-ray performance is as follows: the light-transparent area with clear boundary and smooth inner wall, and there is little exudation change around it. Generally, there is no liquid surface in the hole, and the hole wall is generally below 2~3mm. Common in tuberculosis.

Differential diagnosis

The intrapulmonary air containing space is not caused by the destruction and liquefaction of the lung tissue, but by local emphysema, air sacs, large bubbles under the pleura, and the like. The wall of such a cavity is thinner than the wall of a general thin-walled cavity, and there is no solid or inflammatory change around the cavity, and most of the cavity has no liquid. Although the bronchodilator cyst belongs to this category, it can have a liquid surface and an inflammatory lesion can be seen around it.

The most common causes of cavities in the clinic are lung cancer, tuberculosis and lung abscess. The identification between the three should be taken seriously. The proportion of lung cancer is rising rapidly, and timely diagnosis is critical. When chest X-ray and chest CT have a hollow lesion in the lung, a preliminary diagnosis can be made based on the clinical manifestations and the imaging features of the lesion. However, the diagnosis depends on bacteriological or cytological examination, bronchoscopy, percutaneous lung biopsy and so on.

The material in this site is intended to be of general informational use and is not intended to constitute medical advice, probable diagnosis, or recommended treatments.