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Pulmonary fibrosis - usual interstitial pneumonia

Case contributed by Oliver Hennessy
Diagnosis probable

Presentation

Increasing shortness of breath in an elderly patient.

Patient Data

Age: 80 years
Gender: Male

There are changes of diffuse and extensive reticulation present in an apicobasal distribution in both lungs. There are changes of honeycomb formation at both bases.

The mediastinum is normal, there are no enlarged mediastinal nodes. No pleural calcification is seen.

No mass lesions are seen.

Case Discussion

The findings are characteristic of pulmonary fibrosis with diffuse reticulation bilaterally and honeycomb formation of a usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) pattern, particularly at both lung bases.

There was no evidence to suspect prior asbestosis exposure; both pleura are normal with no calcified or noncalcified plaques visualized.

There is an increased incidence of lung cancers in patients with pulmonary fibrosis, and these tumors may be overlooked when there is dense basal fibrosis present

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