Allergic broncho-pulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) is a severe and under-diagnosed complication of cystic fibrosis (CF). The aim of the study was to determine whether the mucus content of bronchoceles in cystic fibrosis complicated with ABPA reveals a higher density than the mucus content of non-ABPA cystic fibrosis.We studied retrospectively 43 computed tomography scans (CT scans) of a pediatric population of cystic fibrosis patients. We measured the mucus attenuation in Hounsfield Units (HU) of all bronchoceles >5mm in diameter.We found bronchoceles >5mm in 13/43 patients. 5/13 patients had a positive diagnosis of ABPA. The median HU value of bronchoceles was higher in patients with than without ABPA [98 HU (26-135) vs 28 HU (10-36); P=0,02]. Moreover, all patients with a bronchocele density >36HU were ABPA positive.CF complicated with ABPA shows higher attenuation bronchoceles on CT scans of the chest. Systematic density measurements of bronchoceles could help to raise the difficult diagnosis of ABPA in patients suffering from cystic fibrosis. Larger series could confirm a threshold in HU which could become a new imaging criterion for the diagnosis of ABPA.

作者：Aurélie, Occelli；Sébastien, Soize；Caroline, Ranc；Lisa, Giovannini-Chami；Carole, Bailly；Béatrice, Leloutre；Corinne, Boyer；Marie, Baque-Juston

来源：European journal of radiology 2017 年 93卷