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[Pulmonary lymphangitic carcinomatosis]
1Departments of Respiratory Medicine and Pathology, People's Hospital, Beijing Medical University, Beijing 100044.
Objective:
To explore the clinical manifestations of pulmonary lymphangitic carcinomatosis (PLC), to analyse its associated diagnostic methods, and to improve the understanding of PLC and its diagnosis.
Method:
Retrospective analysis of 4 cases of PLC and review of the literature.
Result:
The clinical manifestations of PLC include: (1) dyspnea and cough; (2) normal or restrictive pattern ventilation; (3) diffuse or local reticulonodular infiltrates in the lung like interstitial fibrosis and pleural effusion on chest radiograph; (4) CT and high-resolution CT (HRCT) scans reveal a beaded chain appearance caused by uneven thickening of the interlobular septa and pleural membrane, polygonal thickening of bronchovascular bundles, and mediastinal lymphadenopathy as well.
Conclusion:
These clinical data suggest that any manifestations similar to pulmonary interstitial fibrosis complicated with pleural effusion and paratracheal lymphadenopathy should be further differentiated from PLC by HRCT and pleural-lung tissue biopsy.