CT Diagnosis of Tracheobronchial Tuber-culosis in Aged Patients

Objective: To study the CT features and increase the diagnostic capability in aged patients with tracheobronchial tuberculosis(tTB).Methods: Forty-six aged patients with tTB underwent CT were reviewed retrospectively.Among which,15cases were confirmed by biopsy,5 cases were confirmed by bacteriology and 26 cases were confirmed by clinical follow up findings.Results: (1) There were 98 lesions in 46 cases,40 of 98 lesons were found in upper lobes of the bronchi(40.8%).69.6% of the cases had multiple involvement of 2 or more bronchi.(2) To demonstrate thickening of the bronchial wall or intraluminal tubercle and irregular or smooth stenosis or obstruction were the main direct signs of tTB.(3) The indirect signs of tTB were lungparenchymal TB,collapsed and(or) consolidated lung segment or lobe and enlarged hilar or mediastinal lymph nodes.Conclusions: CT is a valuable diagnostic procedure to reveal tTB.