Published in:
01-11-2018 | Classics in Abdominal Radiology
Tree-in-bud sign
Published in: Abdominal Radiology | Issue 11/2018
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The tree-in-bud pattern represents bronchiolar luminal impaction with mucus, pus or fluid, which demarcates the normally invisible branching course of the distal peripheral pathways, thus resembling a tree branch studded with buds on High-Resolution CT of the lungs (Figs. 1, 2) [1]. This sign corresponds to small (2–4 mm) and peripheral (close to the pleural surface) well-defined small nodules of soft-tissue attenuation which are connected to linear branching opacities with more than one contiguous branching site [1]. It is a pattern of centrolobular nodules characterized by impaction of the terminal bronchioles.
Fig. 1
Axial reconstruction MIP non-enhanced CT showing the tree-in-bud sign
Fig. 2
A tree in bud
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