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RID28531 ground-glass opacity

synonym

ground glass
ground glass attenuation
ground glass opacity
ground-glass

definition

Radiographs and CT scans.—On chest radiographs, ground-glass opacity appears as an area of hazy increased lung opacity, usually extensive, within which margins of pulmonary vessels may be indistinct. On CT scans, it appears as hazy increased opacity of lung, with preservation of bronchial and vascular margins (Fig 23). It is caused by partial filling of airspaces, interstitial thickening (due to fluid, cells, and/or fibrosis), partial collapse of alveoli, increased capillary blood volume, or a combination of these, the common factor being the partial displacement of air (59,60). Ground-glass opacity is less opaque than consolidation, in which bronchovascular margins are obscured. (See also consolidation.) [Fleischner Society]