Squalene aspiration pneumonia in children: Radiographic and CT findings as the first clue to diagnosis

Kyoung Ho Lee, Woo Sun Kim, Jung Eun Cheon, Joon Beom Seo, In One Kim, Kyung Mo Yeon

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: The diagnosis of squalene aspiration pneumonia in children is often difficult because of minimal non-specific symptoms. Objective: To investigate the radiological findings of squalene aspiration pneumonia in children. Materials and methods: We reviewed the chest radiographs (n = 8) and CT scans (n = 7), including high-resolution CT (n = 3), of eight patients (four boys, four girls; age 3 months to 6 years) with squalene aspiration pneumonia. All patients presented minimal symptoms. Results: Chest radiographs showed right-sided predominantly parahilar infiltrations. The extent and the opacity of the lesions decreased slowly during the follow-up period (mean 5.4 months) after halting the exposure. On CT, affected areas appeared as dense consolidations surrounded by ground-glass opacities showing a crazy-paving pattern in a geographic lobular distribution in all patients. The lesions were predominantly in the right lung and dependent areas in all patients and extensively involved all pulmonary lobes in five patients. Conclusions: These radiological findings, although non-specific, can lead to an appropriate diagnosis, particularly when patients present few symptoms.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)619-623
Number of pages5
JournalPediatric Radiology
Volume35
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2005

Keywords

  • CT
  • Children
  • Lipoid pneumonia
  • Lung
  • Radiography

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