Congenital pulmonary airway malformation: CT-pathologic correlation.

OBJECTIVES

Congenital pulmonary airway malformation (CPAM) is classified into 5 subtypes (types 0 to 4). We attempted to correlate computed tomography (CT) findings with those of pathologic examination and evaluated the predictability of the CPAM subtype.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed CT findings in 13 pathologically proven cases of CPAM seen between 1981 and 2005. Patient's age ranged from 4 days to 5 years and 10 months. Six were boys and 7 were girls. According to CT findings, lesions with a cyst larger than 2.5 cm, lesions with cysts 2.5 cm or less and solid lesions were classified into groups A, B, and C, respectively. We assumed that Stocker's types 1 and 4, type 2, and types 0 and 3 would correspond to CT groups A, B, and C, respectively. Then, we assessed whether this assumption is correct or not.

RESULTS

Eight, 3, and 2 cases were diagnosed as groups A, B, and C, respectively. All of the 8 cases diagnosed as group A were Stocker's type 1. One of the 3 cases diagnosed as group B was type 2, but the remaining 2 were type 1 and type 4, respectively. One of the 2 cases diagnosed as group C was type 3 but the other was type 2.

CONCLUSIONS

Lesions with the largest cyst being larger than 2.5 cm was type 1. It seemed, however, difficult to distinguish among types 1, 2, and 4 when they consisted of small cystic components and between types 2 and 3 when they appeared as a solid lesion.