Cheerio sign (pulmonary nodule)
Cheerio sign in thoracic imaging relates to pulmonary nodules with a central lucent cavity supplied by a patent bronchus as seen on CT. It is due to proliferation of (malignant or non-malignant) cells around an airway. They are so named because of their resemblance to the breakfast cereal, Cheerios .
The Cheerio sign (pulmonary nodule) may be due to :
- lung adenocarcinoma (malignant)
- pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis (non-malignant)
- pulmonary meningothelial-like nodules (non-malignant, rare)
Cavitating lung nodules are a differential diagnosis for the Cheerio sign :
- infection (fungal or mycobacterial)
- primary lung cancer
- pulmonary metastases
- rheumatoid nodule
- granulomatosis with polyangiitis
See also
