MediAI

 Edited by ScholarGen MediAI Team Abstract Oleothorax is a rare, historically important pleural condition resulting from the deliberate introduction of oil into the pleural cavity as a form of collapse therapy for pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). Before effective antituberculous chemotherapy became available, physicians employed several invasive procedures to reduce pulmonary expansion, promote cavity closure, and theoretically limit the progression of tuberculosis. Oleothorax was one such intervention, involving the instillation of mineral or vegetable oil into the pleural space to maintain compression of the affected lung. Although this treatment was largely abandoned following the introduction of effective antituberculous medications, residual intrapleural oil collections may persist for decades. These collections can become encapsulated, develop extensive peripheral calcification, and occasionally enlarge or produce clinically significant complications. Consequently, oleothorax may...

  Edited by ScholarGen MediAI Team Executive Clinical Summary A man in his early 30s with renal failure presented with dyspnea. Chest radiography demonstrated multiple high-attenuation opacities predominantly involving the upper lungs, while CT revealed multiple centrilobular, amorphous, and nodular calcifications, particularly in the upper lobes. The overall imaging pattern was consistent with pulmonary metastatic calcification (PMC) . The word metastatic in this diagnosis can be misleading. Pulmonary metastatic calcification does not mean metastatic cancer to the lungs. Rather, it represents deposition of calcium salts within otherwise non-neoplastic pulmonary tissue in the setting of systemic disturbances of calcium-phosphate metabolism. This distinction matters clinically. In a patient with chronic renal failure, upper-lobe-predominant centrilobular pulmonary calcifications should prompt consideration of chronic kidney disease–mineral and bone disorder (CKD-MBD), particularly...