Chest Roentgenographs of 16 autopsied malignant lymphomas which had bilateral diffuse lung abnormalities within six days before death, were correlated with pathological findings.
Chest roentgenographic findings were classified into six groups; (1) miliary, (2) nodular, (3) linear or reticular, (4) opaque (alveolar), (5) opaque (non-alveolar), and (6) mixed densities.
1) Most of the cases had opaque densities (Type 4 and 5) on chest X-ray.
2) Pathologically, pulmonary lymphomas were noted in 10 cases and 6 cases were free from lymphoma cells. Various non-tumorous complications were associated in the majority of cases.
3) Lymphomatous infiltration was relatively infrequent in cases with pure opaque alveolar pattern.
4) Nodular densities did not reflect any specific pathological process. Roentgenographic distinction between benign and malignant processes was impossible.
