High resolution lung computed tomography. Normal anatomic and pathologic findings.

The use of high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) for evaluating the lung parenchyma requires an understanding of normal lung anatomy and the pathologic alterations in anatomy that occur in the presence of disease. Most important is an understanding of the secondary pulmonary lobule; HRCT can show many features of the secondary lobule in both normal and abnormal lungs, and many lung diseases, particularly interstitial diseases, produce characteristic alterations in lobular anatomy. HRCT is capable of diagnosing interstitial abnormalities, air-space consolidation airway diseases, and emphysema.