Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia: CT features in 16 patients

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the computed tomography (CT) features of Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia. We retrospectively reviewed CT findings of 16 patients (M:F=9:7, age range 1-74 years, median 9 years) with serologically proven Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia and with chest CT scan available. Two distinctive patterns of CT features of M. pneumoniae pneumonia were noted between the paediatric (age < 18 years) and the adult (age >= 18 years) groups. The pediatric group (n=11) showed lobar or segmental consolidation (100%) with frequent pleural effusion (82%) and regional lymphadenopathy (82%) and mild volume decrease of the involved lobe (73%), while four of the five adult patients showed diffuse and/or multifocal, centrilobular or peribronchovascular areas of ground-glass attenuation (80%) with a lobular distribution, and frequent thickening of interlobular septa (60%) and the bronchial walls (40%) were also detected at high-resolution CT. The CT finding of a lobar or segmental consolidation with a parapneumonic effusion seen in our children with M. pneumoniae pneumonia was similar to that of bacterial lobar pneumonia. In contrast, the CT findings noted in our adult patients consisted of a mixture of a bacterial bronchopneumonia pattern and a viral interstitial pneumonia pattern.