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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Radiol Imaging 2018; 28(03): 333-341
DOI: 10.4103/ijri.IJRI_339_17
Thoracic Imaging

Bronchial anthracofibrosis: The spectrum of radiological appearances

Ashok Shah
Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute, University of Delhi, Delhi; Senior Consultant, Department of Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, New Delhi
,
Shekhar Kunal
Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute, University of Delhi, Delhi
,
Rajesh Gothi
Department of Imaging, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket, New Delhi
› Author Affiliations Financial support and sponsorship Nil.
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Abstract

Bronchial anthracofibrosis (BAF), caused by long-standing exposure to biomass fuel smoke, has emerged as a distinct pulmonary disease. It is usually seen in elderly females who have worked long hours in poorly ventilated kitchen full of smoke due to incomplete combustion of biomass fuel. The diagnosis is confirmed on bronchoscopic visualization of bluish-black anthracotic pigmentation along with narrowing/distortion of the affected bronchus. BAF has been associated with clinical conditions such as pulmonary tuberculosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia, and malignancy. Tuberculosis, once thought to be the causative agent for BAF, is now considered to be an association. BAF has a diverse radiological presentation and the presence of associated clinical conditions often confound the radiological picture. The imaging features of BAF include primary imaging characteristics, which pertains to the disease entity directly, and secondary features based on the presence of associated conditions. High-resolution computed tomography findings of multifocal bronchial narrowing and peribronchial cuffing are considered to be specific diagnostic features of BAF. In addition, the diagnostic probability is increased in the presence of mediastinal adenopathy and collapse/atelectasis with middle lobe syndrome being the most common presentation. This pictorial essay highlights the range of imaging appearances in patients with BAF.

Keywords

Anthracosis - biomass fuel smoke exposure - bronchial anthracofibrosis - fiberoptic bronchoscopy - high-resolution computed tomography - imaging


Publication History

Article published online:
26 July 2021

© 2018. Indian Radiological Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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