Hemorrhagic pulmonary metastases

Last revised by Mostafa Elfeky on 21 Oct 2020

Hemorrhagic pulmonary metastases are those which tend to be complicated by pulmonary hemorrhage within them, resulting in characteristic imaging appearances.  Metastases of some tumor histologies are more likely to hemorrhage -- knowledge of this can help refine the differential diagnoses.

Hemorrhage is mostly thought to be due to fragility of neovascular tissue that leads to a rupture of the vessel.

Recognized types generally tend to have high vascularity within them and include 1,2

If there is a peri-tumoral hemorrhage this may be seen as a nodule or mass which is surrounded by a halo of ground-glass opacity (CT halo sign) or an ill-defined fuzzed-out margin.

For a suspected nodule or mass giving a CT halo sign - see differential for a CT halo sign.

ADVERTISEMENT: Supporters see fewer/no ads

Updating… Please wait.

 Unable to process the form. Check for errors and try again.

 Thank you for updating your details.