[CT diagnosis of diffuse lung disease]

The first HRCT of the lung was obtained in 1979 in Japan. Since then, CT-pathologic correlations have been performed in the major diffuse lung diseases. For this purpose, lung specimens were fixed in the inflated condition, which enables precise stereomicroscopic observations to be performed on sliced lung specimens. The first successful correlation was performed in diffuse panbronchiolitis (DPB), where nodular densities in HRCT were proven to correspond to chronic inflammation in the respiratory bronchioles and their neighboring structures. However, further investigation of the correlations are required in diffuse lung diseases showing ground glass-like densities in CT, since this finding is nonspecific and may occur in both airspace and interstitial lung disease.