| Key
Facts |
- Rare unknown disease
- Calcium deposits
within the alveoli
- Autosomal recessive
predominantly affecting females
|
| Imaging
Findings |
Chest
radiography
- Black pleura
- Dense lungs with
fine sand-like micronodulation
- Spontaneous pneumothorax
CT/HRCT
- More sensitive
for calcium
- Subpleural cysts
account for “black pleura”
- 1mm calcific micronodules
more concentrated in the dorsal lung
- Small scattered
cyst lung
|
| Differential
Diagnosis |
- Metastatic pulmonary
calcification
- Benign lung ossification
- Silicosis
- Amloidosis
- Sarcoidosis
|
| Pathological
Features |
- Calcispherytes
(round concentrically laminated) in alveoli
- Associated with
fibrosis and pleural thickening
- Tiny subpleural
cysts
|
| Clinical
Presentation |
- Mild symptoms out
of proportion to radiographic abnormalities
- No known treatment
- Prognosis variable
|
| References |
Korn
MA. et al. Pulmonary alveolar microlithiasis: findings on high-resolution
CT. AJR 158:981-82, 1992
|
