Bullous lesions detected by computed tomography.

An analysis was made of bullous emphysema detected by plain chest radiography and computed tomography (CT). Bullous lesions were detected in 43 of 214 patients who had thoracic CT as a further assessment of their pulmonary, pleural, and mediastinal abnormalities. Plain chest radiography failed to detect the bullous lesions in 17 (39.5%) out of the 43 patients. Bullous lesions unrecognizable on plain radiographs ranged from 1.0 to 2.0 cm in size, were few in number, and were situated on the mediastinal side of the lung in many patients. CT is a sensitive method for detecting bullous lesions. Therefore, we consider it necessary to perform CT when needle biopsy for a previously known pulmonary lesion is taken into account, because knowledge of coexisting bullous lesions may be useful in preventing the occurrence of severe pneumothorax as complication.