Consolidation with a twisted appearance along the airways: A report of five cases of interstitial pneumonia

High-resolution CT showed areas of airspace consolidation with a twisted appearance of the airways, along with areas of peribronchial ground-glass attenuation and traction bronchiectasis, in five patients with interstitial pneumonia. These areas of airspace consolidation were termed “twisted consolidation” (TwC). The five patients included two patients receiving treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), one patient with newly diagnosed RA, and one patient who subsequently showed RA. Three patients showed improvement after steroid administration. An association of TwC with RA is suspected, but further studies are necessary.