Honeycombing (lungs)
Updates to Article Attributes
Honeycombing refers to a CT manifestation of diffuse pulmonary fibrosis (usual interstitial pneumonia). The Fleischner Society definition is clustered cystic air spaces (between 3-10 mm in diameter but occasionally as large as 2.5 cm) which are usually subpleural and basal in distribution. The walls of the cysts are well-defined and often thick (1-3 mm) 4.
Honeycombing is an irreversible finding in interstitial lung disease and associated with a poor prognosis.
Pathology
Honeycombing consists of enlarged airspaces with thick fibrotic walls lined by bronchiolar epithelium and often filled with mucin and inflammatory cells 6.
History and etymology
The term “honeycomb lung” is thought to have originated in the 19th century in Germany and is thought to have first appeared in 1949 in a study by N Oswald and T Parkinson 5.
Differential diagnosis
- air space consolidation in the presence of pulmonary emphysema can mimic this appearance.
- in some situations, paraseptal emphysema and paracicatrical emphysema can also mimic honeycombing 3
See also
-<li>air space consolidation in the presence of pulmonary emphysema can mimic this appearance.</li>- +<li>
- +<a title="Air space consolidation" href="/articles/air-space-opacification-1">air space consolidation</a> in the presence of pulmonary emphysema can mimic this appearance.</li>
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