Pneumonia in normal and immunocompromised children: an overview and update.

Pneumonia is an infection of the lung parenchyma caused by a wide variety of organisms in pediatric patients. The role of imaging is to detect the presence of pneumonia, and determine its location and extent, exclude other thoracic causes of respiratory symptoms, and show complications such as effusion/empyema and suppurative lung changes. The overarching goal of this article is to review cause, role of imaging, imaging techniques, and the spectrum of acute and chronic pneumonias in children. Pneumonia in the neonate and immunocompromised host is also discussed.