Diffuse Lung Diseases

This book aims to help the reader confused by the multiplicity of diseases which provoke similar symptoms in patients. Consequently, the chapters are noticeably sign-oriented rather than disease-oriented, each dealing with one of the four cardinal modalities of HRCT presentation, namely the reticular, nodular, alveolar and cystic patterns. Each chapter is introduced by a list of possible diseases and immediately followed by a detailed description of the HRCT patterns. Each is thoroughly illustrated with high quality, enlarged images, which like counterpoint provide the rhythm to the written text.§When subsequently dealing with the diseases within each pattern, only the pertinent manifestations of them are taken into account a feature unique to this book which sees the same disease being reintroduced even two or three times. This distinction is not artificial, since different radiological manifestations usually mean different phases in the progression of a process, during which not only the pathology, but also the clinical features as much as the prognosis and therapy are different. Often, presentation, history and HRCT are sufficient for making a diagnosis and defining disease management; in other cases, further investigation is required to obtain a more confident diagnosis, or to stage the activity of the disease more precisely. Consequently, the contribution of the other techniques involved in diagnostic refinement are highlighted (bronchoalveolar lavage, bronchoscopic or thoracovideoscopic biopsy, open chest surgery).