Role of High Resolution Computed Tomography in the Diagnosis of Interstitial Diseases of the Lungs

Background: Interstitial lung diseases are a diverse group of diseases that predominantly affect the lung interstitium and share similar clinical and radiological manifestations. Most patients have nonspecific respiratory complaints and the first suggestion of the disease is usually by a chest radiograph. However many patients of interstitial lung disease can have a normal chest radiogram; in these patients HRCT can detect abnormalities not visualized on the chest radiogram. Aims: This study attempts to highlight the role of HRCT in the diagnosis of interstitial lung disease. Material and Methods: The present study included 30 patients. After a detailed clinical work up, all the patients underwent both conventional chest radiography and HRCT. The images were evaluated and the findings compared between chest radiography and HRCT. The results were tabulated, statistically analysed and compared with previous studies. Results: The main result of the study was that HRCT was able to detect many abnormalities in interstitial lung diseases compared to conventional radiographs. Conclusion: HRCT appears to be a better modality of investigation than conventional chest radiography in the diagnosis of interstitial lung diseases. HRCT was able to detect abnormalities even in cases when the chest radiogram was normal. Clinicians should therefore give patients the benefit of an HRCT examination even when the chest radiogram appears normal.