CT Chest Report

[CherC]

I recently received a chest CT. It states: The lungs show a few bullous changes. There are areas of scattered ground-glass opacity which is indeterminate. There are also areas of linear parenchymal scarring. An area of atelectasis is seen in the medial portion of the right middle lobe and an area of atelectasis is seen in the lingula.
What does this mean? Thank you!

[National Jewish Health]

Bullous changes are most commonly seen as an early sign of emphysema/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in adults who have smoked cigarettes.  However in younger people who have not smoked, these changes may simply be a clinically insignificant congenital abnormality.  The ground glass pattern is abnormal and can be seen with a number of disease states including infectious and allergic pneumonia, and interstitial lung disease (ILD).

Atelectasis means lung collapse.  That is a portion of lung that is no longer aerated or containing air.  There are a number of causes but such findings are not uncommon in the right middle lobe and lingula and usually not a sign of serious disease.

Accurate CT interpretation must take into account clinical information including physical findings, laboratory tests, history especially of occupational exposures, such as why the CT scan was performed, the results of pulmonary function tests (PFTs) etc.  You should discuss these findings with your doctor or with a pulmonologist, also known as a lung specialist.