Finding the bubble: atypical and unusual extrapulmonary air in the chest.

Objective: To describe the radiologic findings of extrapulmonary air in the chest and to review atypical and unusual causes of extrapulmonary air, emphasizing the importance of the diagnosis in managing these patients.

Conclusion: In this article, we review a series of cases collected at our center that manifest with extrapulmonary air in the thorax, paying special attention to atypical and uncommon causes. We discuss the causes of extrapulmonary according to its location: mediastinum (spontaneous pneumomediastinum with pneumorrhachis, tracheal rupture, dehiscence of the bronchial anastomosis after lung transplantation, intramucosal esophageal dissection, Boerhaave syndrome, tracheoesophageal fistula in patients with esophageal tumors, bronchial perforation and esophagorespiratory fistula due to lymph-node rupture, and acute mediastinitis), pericardium (pneumopericardium in patients with lung tumors), cardiovascular (venous air embolism), pleura (bronchopleural fistulas, spontaneous pneumothorax in patients with malignant pleural mesotheliomas and primary lung tumors, and bilateral pneumothorax after unilateral lung biopsy), and thoracic wall (infections, transdiaphragmatic intercostal hernia, and subcutaneous emphysema after lung biopsy).

New opacities in lung allograft after transbronchial cryobiopsy.

Background: The occurrence of radiological opacities post-transbronchial cryobiopsy may pose serious difficulties in differential diagnosis and management of lung allografts. This prospective study evaluated the frequency, characteristics, and evolution of new lung opacities after performing transbronchial cryobiopsy.

Methods: From February 2018 to June 2018, 22 of 51 consecutive patients with an indication for transbronchial cryobiopsy underwent computed tomography (CT) of the thorax before and at 1, 4, and 8 weeks post-cryobiopsy.

Solitary pleural nodule: a late paradoxical reaction to antituberculosis treatment.

We present the case of a young woman with a history of previously treated pleural and pulmonary tuberculosis referred to our hospital for chest pain and a single pleural nodule seen on plain chest films and chest CT. Cultures of inflammatory-type material obtained by US-guided fine-needle biopsy of the pleural lesion were positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. The diagnosis was a paradoxical reaction to antituberculosis treatment; after 6 more months of treatment, the pleural lesion and chest pain disappeared.