CT imaging findings of thymus or thyroid gland involved in Langerhans cell histiocytosis of pediatric patients

Abstract

Objective To investigate the CT imaging findings of thymus and thyroid gland involved in Langerhans cell histiocytosis(LCH) of pediatric patients. Methods CT image findings in pediatric patients with LCH confirmed by pathology and clinical diagnosis from January 2006 to February 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. By radiography, 38 cases' thymus gland were involved and 8 cases' thyroids gland were involved. Results Plain CT scan for thymus gland involved patients revealed 9 cases were shown as hyperplasia, 17 cases were shown as calcification, 9 cases were shown as hyperplasia with calcification, 1 case was shown as cavity, 1 case was shown as hyperplasia with calcification and cavity and 1 case was shown as hyperplasia with calcification and low density. Enhanced CT scan for thyroid gland involved patients showed bilateral or unilateral enlargement of thyroid gland with heterogeneous low density and unobvious enhancement. Conclusions Finely calcifications were the most common CT findings on thymus gland involved in LCH and might without hyperplasia. CT imaging of thyroid LCH exhibited an enlarged or normal size and abnormal density in the thyroid gland with adjacent soft tissues involved. Key words: Child; Histiocytosis, Langerhans-cell; Tomography, X-ray computed; Thymus gland; Thyroid gland