CTICasesOleothorax and Plombage (Historical Tuberculosis Treatments)
Imaging findings
Frontal chest radiograph and chest CT of an elderly patient with historical tuberculosis reveal multiple round lucent structures in the left upper hemithorax and a large, extrapleural fat-attenuation collection, characteristic of historical plombage balls and oleothorax. Follow-up scans demonstrated progressive, benign nodularity along the fibrous capsule of the oleothorax cavity.
Key takeaways
Plombage and oleothorax are obsolete collapse therapies used for cavitary tuberculosis prior to the antibiotic era. Familiarity with these distinctive, fat-containing or encapsulated structures is essential to avoid misinterpreting them as active tumors, fat-containing neoplasms, or empyemas, though chronic capsule nodularity should still be carefully evaluated.
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