CT FINDINGS OF PULMONARY PARENCHYMA IN TAKAYASU ARTERITIS

Purpose: Our goal was to describe the pulmonary parenchymal manifestat ions of Takayasu arteritis visualized on CT. Method: We assessed the C T findings for the pulmonary parenchyma in 25 patients with Takayasu a rteritis and compared them with those visualized by pulmonary angiogra phy (n = 20) and radionuclide perfusion scintigraphy (n = 19) Results: A review of the CT scans revealed a total of 33 low attenuation areas in the lung (II patients), subpleural reticulolinear changes (12 pati ents), and pleural thickening (9 patients). The low attenuation areas were preferentially seen in patients with pulmonary arteritis and corr esponded to pulmonary angiographic staining and scintigraphic perfusio n defects. No significant cor relation was found between other CT find ings and pulmonary arteritis. Conclusion: The findings suggest that pu lmonary low attenuation areas observed on CT represent regional hypope rfusion due to pulmonary arteritis. We speculate that pulmonary thromb oembolism may contribute to other CT findings for the pleura and adjac ent lung.