Ground-glass opacity (GGO) is defined as increased attenuation of the lung parenchyma without obscuration of the pulmonary vascular markings on CT images
Basically it may be filling of alveoli with fluid , blood, cancer cells,pus etc or thickning of alveolar walls below spatial rtesolution in HRCT.eg pulmonary fibrosis. So ground-glass opacification may either be due to air space disease (filling of the alveoli) or interstitial lung disease (i.e. fibrosis).
Causes of Isolated Diffuse Ground-Glass Opacity
Opportunistic infections Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP)
Cytomegalovirus pneumonia (CMV)
Herpes simplex virus pneumonia (HSV)
Respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis
Other
Chronic interstitial diseases
Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP)
Desquamative interstitial pneumonia (DIP)
Respiratory bronchiolitis interstitial lung disease (RBILD)
Nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP)
Acute interstitial pneumonia (AIP)
Lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia (LIP)
Sarcoidosis
Acute alveolar diseases
Pulmonary edema
Heart disease
Adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)
Other
Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage
Other causes Drug toxicity
Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP)
Bronchiolitis obliterans with organizing pneumonia (BOOP, COP)
Bronchoalveolar carcinoma
More detail --http://www.ajronline.org/cgi/content/full/184/2/613
The anatomical location of the GGO can give a clue to etiology--
• Upper zone predominance: Respiratory bronchiolitis, PCP.
• Lower zone predominance: UIP, NSIP, DIP.
• Centrilobular distribution: Hypersensitivity pneumonitis, Respiratory bronchiolitis.
2 comments:
Ground glass opacity was found on my chest x-ray 6 mo ago and attributed to gastrointestinal reflux? No one seems worried, should I be? I am asthmatic, have a history of bronchitis and plueritic pnumonia and only quit smoking cigaretted two years ago. Should I be more worried?
Can you provide scans of your chest X Ray/ CT scan? And some details of your problem like duration of your illness, your symptoms e.g. cough, wheezing and when it occurs.. your age etc.
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