Pulmonary pneumatocele

What it means

A pneumatocele is a thin walled, gas-filled space in the lung. It is most frequently caused by acute pneumonia, trauma, or aspiration of hydrocarbon fluid and is usually transient. The mechanism is believed to be a combination of parenchymal necrosis and check-valve airway obstruction. A pneumatocele appears as an approximately round, thin-walled airspace in the lung.

See Figure 52 of Hansell DM, et al., Fleischner Society: glossary of terms for thoracic imaging. Radiology. 2008;246:697-722.

Rare diseases that can present with this2

The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.

Part of the broader category

Also called: Pulmonary pneumatocoele