The “Reversed Halo” Sign in Pneumonococcal Pneumonia: a Review with a Case Report
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European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences 2010; 14: 481-486 The “reversed halo” sign in pneumonococcal pneumonia: a review with a case report V. TZILAS, A. BASTAS, A. PROVATA, A. KOTI, V. TZOUDA, G. TSOUKALAS 4th Respiratory Medicine Department, Athens Chest Disease Hospital, Sotiria (Greece) Abstract. – The “reversed halo” sign The patient was febrile with a temperature of (RHS) is a distinct radiological sign representing 38.5°C (101.3oF). Her heart rate was 100 to 110 a focal rounded area of ground-glass opacity beats per minute with a sinus rhythm revealed on surrounded by a more or less complete ring of consolidation. Initially, it was reported in two ECG. Respiratory rate was 18 to 20 breaths per cases of cryptogenic organizing pneumonia and minute. She was hemodynamically stable with a was considered to be relatively specific of the blood pressure of 115/70 mm Hg. Auscultation disease. Since then, it has been reported in a of the lungs revealed crackles in the right lung wide variety of clinical entities, thus reducing its base. specificity. We describe the reversed halo sign in There was no clubbing, cervical or axillary a case of pneumonococcal pneumonia. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report in lymphadenopathy, skin lesions or joint swelling. English literature. The presence of the “reversed Physical examinations of the rest systems did halo” sign during the resolution phase of pneu- not provide any significant information. monococcal pneumonia has serious implica- Total blood count revealed a mild nor- tions. First, it further reduces its specificity. Sec- mochromic anemia. The exact CBC was as fol- ond, it opens new areas of research regarding lows: Ht: 34.8%, WBC: 10,660/mm3, PLT: its significance in cases of cryptogenic organiz- 215,000 mm3. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate ing pneumonia. was 83 mm.h-1. Laboratory panel regarding liver Key Words: function, renal function, creatine kinase and elec- trolytes, were all within normal limits. Reversed halo sign (RHS), Pneumonococcal pneu- monia, Cryptogenic organizing pneumonia (COP). At presentation the chest X-ray showed a consolidative pattern in the right middle and lower lung fields. A computed tomography of the chest showed extensive areas of consolida- tion with air-bronchogram in the lateral segment Case Report of the middle lobe and the right lower lung. A right sided pleural effusion was also noted (Fig- A 57 year old Caucasian woman presented ure 1). with a 7-days history of fever and non productive The patient was treated with moxifloxacin i.v. cough. She has been receiving clarithromycin (400 mg q.d.). She became afebrile during the (500 mg b.i.d.) by her general practitioner. Due fourth day. to the persistence of fever she was referred to our Sputum and blood cultures were negative, but clinic. At presentation the patient was febrile. the Streptococcus pneumoniae rapid urinary anti- She reported progressive dyspnea on exertion, a gen test was positive. pleuritic pain in the lower right hemithorax and At follow up the patient remained afebrile. constitutional symptoms as malaise and anorexia. Computed tomography of the chest revealed a She denied headaches, nausea, vomiting, diar- clear improvement. In the posterior segment of rhea, dysuria, night sweats, and weight loss. the right lower lobe there was a ring shaped She was currently retired and worked as a opacity surrounding an area of ground glass at- teacher. She was a non smoker and denied tenuation, thus creating the “reversed halo” sign ethanol, drug abuse, exposure to domestic ani- (RHS) (Figure 2). mals and recent travel. No drug allergies were After 3 months a chest X-ray revealed mini- noted. mal residual abnormalities (mild elevation of the Corresponding Author: Vasilios Tzilas, MD; e-mail: [email protected] 481 V. Tzilas, A. Bastas, A. Provata, A. Koti, V. Tzouda, G. Tsoukalas Figure 1. Areas of consolidation with air-bronchogram in the lateral segment of the middle lobe and the right lower lobe. Figure 3. After 3 months there is a minimal elevation of the right hemidiaphragm and a linear opacity in the right right hemidiaphragm and a linear opacity in the lower lung field. right lower lung field) (Figure 3). It must be stressed that the patient never re- ceived corticosteroids. To the best of our knowl- edge this is the first time in English literature that Review the reversed halo sign is described in pneumono- coccal pneumonia. Non Infectious, non Neoplastic Causes The “reversed halo” sign is a focal rounded area of ground-glass opacity surrounded by a Cryptogenic Organizing Pneumonia more or less complete ring of consolidation1. (COP) Initially it was reported in the context of cryp- Classically, the reversed halo sign was corre- togenic organizing pneumonia and was consid- lated with Cryptogenic Organizing Pneumonia ered to be characteristic of this disease. Howev- (COP). COP is one of the seven Idiopathic In- er the reversed halo sign has been described in terstitial Pneumonias. Formerly known as Bron- a variety of diseases. Its evaluation should be chiolitis Obliterans Organizing Pneumonia made with extreme caution taking into account (BOOP) the ATS/ERS consensus of the Idio- history, clinical examination and other radio- pathic Interstitial Pneumonias clearly encour- logical findings. ages the embracement of the term COP2. The latter term is preferred in order to avoid confu- sion with airway diseases such as constrictive bronchiolitis. Although relatively rare, COP has become a well characterized clinical entity with a specific pathological background in the con- text of a negative aetiological investigation. The histological hallmark is the presence of intralu- minal buds of connective tissue within alveolar ducts and alveoli. These can extend from one alveolus to the next through the pores of Kohn, thus creating a “butterfly” pattern3. Organiza- tion of connective tissue can be seen within bronchioles in the form of proliferative bronchi- olitis but this is not obligatory. Alveolar epithe- lial injury is believed to be the triggering event and the primary damage takes place on the alve- Figure 2. Follow-up CT reveals significant improvement. The “reversed halo” sign is recognized in the posterior seg- olar level. Lung architecture is usually pre- ment of the right lower lobe. (The patient herself proceeded served. Giant cell, granuloma or hyaline mem- to examination by a CT of the thorax). branes are absent. 482 The “reversed halo” sign in pneumonococcal pneumonia The RHS in COP was first reported by which showed noncaseating granulomas with Voloudaki et al. in two patients4. This paper is stains and cultures negative for fungi and acid very important because it also offers CT-patho- fast bacilli. logic correlation. The central area of ground Recently, Kumazoe et al.9 also reported the glass attenuation corresponded to alveolar septal RHS in a case of biopsy proven sarcoidosis inflammation and cellular debris while the ring (transbronchial). In this case it is important that of consolidation corresponded to the above men- besides the RHS there were also nodules with tioned histological pattern of Organizing Pneu- perilymphatic distribution (subpleural, perifissur- monia. al) which are considered characteristic of sar- The Authors concluded that since these fea- coidosis10. tures had not been described in any other disease, they might be characteristic features of COP. Exogenous Lipoid Pneumonia The actual term “reversed halo” sign was pro- Kanaji et al.11 reported the RHS in a patient posed by Kim et al5. The purpose of his study with exogenous lipoid pneumonia due to inhala- was to evaluate its value in the diagnosis of COP. tion of paint spray. Initially, CT revealed multi- 31 patients with COP were examined. Patients ple, bilateral nodules. After 5 months some of the with associated collagen vascular diseases or oth- nodules exhibited the RHS. er known causes of Organizing Pneumonia were excluded. The RHS was identified in 6 patients Wegener’s Granulomatosis (19%). It was not seen in any patients with We- Agarwal et al.12 described the RHS in a patient gener’s granulomatosis (14 patients), diffuse with Wegener’s granulomatosis. It is important bronchoalveolar carcinoma (10 patients), chronic that high resolution CT besides the RHS also re- eosinophilic pneumonia (5 patients) or Churg- vealed a cavitating mass. Hence, it seems that the Strauss syndrome (1 patient). Therefore, the Au- RHS was present at an intermediate stage before thors concluded that the reversed halo sign was the development of cavitation. relatively specific for a diagnosis of COP and can be considered another diagnostic adjunct. Since then several reports in medical litera- Infectious Causes ture, correlate the reversed halo sign with other clinical entities thus questioning its diagnostic Fungal Infections specificity regarding COP. The RHS is also reported in a case of minocy- Paracoccidioidomycosis cline induced Organizing Pneumonia6. Paracoccidioidomycosis, also known as South American blastomycosis, is a frequent endemic Non Specific Interstitial Pneumonia mycosis in Latin America, especially in farm (NSIP) workers13. Gasparetto et al.14 reviewed the high Ueda et al.7 reported a case of a 39 year old resolution CT findings in 148 patients with male who presented with chest discomfort, dry proven paracoccidioidomycosis. Besides the cough and dyspnea. High resolution CT showed known findings of interlobular septal thickening, ground glass opacities with bibasilar distribution. parenchymal bands, ground-glass opacities, cen- Loss of lung volume was indicative of a fibrotic trilobular nodules, the reversed halo sign was disorder. The RHS was also observed. A biopsy recognized in 15 patients (10%). There was no specimen was obtained during video assisted tho- zone predilection and in 2 cases the reversed halo racic surgery, which established the diagnosis of sign was the only finding. 3 patients underwent NSIP. surgical lung biopsy and a CT-pathologic correla- tion was possible.