Objective: The objective of the study was to describe the imaging appearances of diffuse idiopathic pulmonary neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia (DIPNECH) on computed tomography (CT).
Materials and methods: Electronic medical records were searched for patients with pathology-proven DIPNECH who had a CT available for review. Eleven patients were included.
Results: The most common finding on CT was small pulmonary nodules which were present in all patients and were multiple (≥5) in 7/11 patients. Other CT findings included mosaic pattern attenuation and bronchial wall thickening/bronchiectasis.
Conclusion: DIPNECH should be considered as a diagnostic possibility when multiple small pulmonary nodules are identified on CT, particularly if there is an associated carcinoid tumor.
Keywords: CT; DIPNECH; Pulmonary neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia; pulmonary nodules.
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