[Computed tomography and pulmonary pathology]

By using the data on 570 cases with lung cancer, 49 with various types of tuberculosis, 13 with benign tumours, and 223 with acute and chronic inflammatory lung diseases, the authors of the paper analyze their diagnosis by using the currently available techniques X-ray computed tomography (CT). The role of CT is compared with the techniques of the so-called classical roentgenology. In the authors' opinion, CT for central lung cancer is of the greatest importance in its peribronchial malignancy while in peripheral lung cancer it provides an objective insight into the involvement of the pleura. As for a large group of pulmonary diseases which may be subsumed under the heading of inflammatory diseases, CT has proved to be also a highly effective diagnostic technique that correctly interprets some complicated cases to make an accurate diagnosis. By and large, computed tomography for pulmonary tuberculosis is more effective in the assessment of the extent of a process, in case-finding and in the definition of the characteristics of cavities, small ones in particular (as small as 3-4 mm), which are present in the consolidated infiltrates, tuberculomas and individual foci, as well as in the detection of small seeding foci. The authors consider CT to become one of the leading techniques in the diagnosis of major pulmonary disease.