Spectrum of clinical and radiographic findings in pediatric mycoplasma pneumonia

Clinical symptoms in mycoplasma infection are nonspecific. Pulmonary involv ement may be widespread or focal and segmental and is accompanied by signs including rales, rhonchi, and decreased breath sounds. Although manifestati ons of mycoplasma infection are usually confined to the respiratory tract, a wide variety of extrarespiratory manifestations can also occur, including more severe associated diseases such as myocarditis, acute disseminated en cephalomyelitis, and cerebral arteriovenous occlusion. The radiographic fin dings in mycoplasma pneumonia are also nonspecific and in some cases closel y resemble those seen in children with viral infections of the lower respir atory tract. Focal reticulonodular opacification confined to a single lobe is a radiographic pattern that seems to be more closely associated with myc oplasma infection than with other types of pediatric respiratory illnesses, and the diagnosis of mycoplasma pneumonia should be considered whenever fo cal or bilateral reticulonodular opacification is seen. Hazy or ground-glas s consolidations frequently occur, but dense homogeneous consolidations lik e those seen with bacterial pneumonias are uncommon. Atelectasis or transie nt pseudoconsolidations due to confluent interstitial shadows are often see n. Radiographic findings alone are not sufficient for the definitive diagno sis of mycoplasma pneumonia, but in combination with clinical findings they can significantly improve the accuracy of diagnosis in this disease.