Congenital pulmonary airway malformation: CT-pathologic correlation

OBJECTIVES: Congenital pulmonary airway malformation (CPAM) is classified into 5 subtypes (types 0 to 4). We attempted to correlate computed tomography (CT) findings with those of pathologic examination and evaluated the predictability of the CPAM subtype. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed CT findings in 13 pathologically proven cases of CPAM seen between 1981 and 2005. Patient's age ranged from 4 days to 5 years and 10 months. Six were boys and 7 were girls. According to CT findings, lesions with a cyst larger than 2.5 cm, lesions with cysts 2.5 cm or less and solid lesions were classified into groups A, B, and C, respectively. We assumed that Stocker's types 1 and 4, type 2, and types 0 and 3 would correspond to CT groups A, B, and C, respectively. Then, we assessed whether this assumption is correct or not. RESULTS: Eight, 3, and 2 cases were diagnosed as groups A, B, and C, respectively. All of the 8 cases diagnosed as group A were Stocker's type 1. One of the 3 cases diagnosed as group B was type 2, but the remaining 2 were type 1 and type 4, respectively. One of the 2 cases diagnosed as group C was type 3 but the other was type 2. CONCLUSIONS: Lesions with the largest cyst being larger than 2.5 cm was type 1. It seemed, however, difficult to distinguish among types 1, 2, and 4 when they consisted of small cystic components and between types 2 and 3 when they appeared as a solid lesion.