Chest Imaging

Curvilinear subpleural line

linear density of variable length within 1 cm of, and parallel to the chest wall, depicted on CT scans. In patients with asbestosis, it may be caused by early peribronchiolar fibrosis combined with collapse of alveoli due to fibrosis.This CT finding, however, is a nonspecific finding that can result from hypoventilation due to pleural thickening or visceral pleural fibrosis related to asbestos (Fig.1). In addition, a curvilinear subpleural line may be seen in the dependent lung regions in up to 20% of subjects without a history of exposure to asbestos.

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Fig.1

HRCT scan in a patient exposed to asbestos. A curvilinear subpleural line is visible in the right lower lobe, and another linear opacity is visible in the lingula.
Curvilinear subpleural line, Fig.1