CTICasesMilk of Calcium Pleural Collection
Imaging findings
A patient in their 80s has a shrunken right lung with a calcium-attenuation collection following the pleura at the right apex. CT shows the calcific material layering within a chronic pleural collection, with a halo between the lung and the denser outer portion and adjacent extrapleural fat proliferation; rib fractures are present, suggesting a prior hemothorax.
Key takeaways
A milk of calcium pleural collection arises from a long-standing chronic exudative pleural effusion or empyema with stasis, in which calcium precipitates and settles within the collection, producing a dependent calcific layer with overlying pleural thickening and extrapleural fat. It is classically associated with chronic tuberculous empyema but can also follow hemothorax, and recognizing it as dystrophic pleural calcification avoids misinterpretation.
AI-assisted summary — may contain errors. Verify against the source video. Learn more
More from this webinar
- Acute Pulmonary Embolism with Infarct on Non-Contrast CTVascular
- Dendriform Pulmonary OssificationMetabolic
- Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis Progressing to FibrosisILD
- Adenocarcinoma Arising within Pulmonary FibrosisNeoplastic
- Tophaceous Gout on Chest CTMetabolic
- Pulmonary Embolism with Oval InfarctVascular
- Pneumothorax Ex Vacuo after Endobronchial Valve PlacementArtifact
- Giant Cell Arteritis with Large-Vessel InvolvementAutoimmune
See all cases from November 13, 2020 →