Head cheese sign (lungs)

Last revised by Henry Knipe ◉ ◈ on 19 Jun 2023

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Gaillard F, Knipe H, Weerakkody Y, et al. Head cheese sign (lungs). Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 28 Sep 2023) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-1431

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-1431

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/1431

rID:

1431

Article created:

2 May 2008, Frank Gaillard ◉ ◈

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Frank Gaillard had no recorded disclosures.

View Frank Gaillard's current disclosures

Last revised:

19 Jun 2023, Henry Knipe ◉ ◈

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Henry Knipe had the following disclosures:

Integral Diagnostics, Shareholder (ongoing)
Micro-X Ltd, Shareholder (ongoing)

These were assessed during peer review and were determined to not be relevant to the changes that were made.

View Henry Knipe's current disclosures

Revisions:

39 times, by 13 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Chest

Sections:

Signs

Tags:

hypersensitivity pneumonitis, head cheese sign, #r21, ref link

Synonyms:

Head cheese sign - chest
Three-density pattern - chest

The head cheese sign, more recently called the three-density pattern, refers to a juxtaposition of regions with three (or sometimes more) different densities/regions of different attenuation within the lungs:

ground-glass opacities (high attenuation)
mosaic attenuation pattern (low attenuation)
normal lung tissue (normal attenuation)

A mixed infiltrative (ground-glass opacity) and obstructive (mosaic attenuation) disease process can give rise to the head cheese sign. Less frequently, the superposition of a separate infiltrative and obstructive process causes this pattern. As the mosaic attenuation pattern is caused by airway narrowing/air trapping, these low attenuation areas may only be apparent on expiratory scans.

The head cheese sign is considered to be highly specific for hypersensitivity pneumonitis, although it can also be seen in other mixed infiltrative and obstructive processes (e.g. sarcoidosis) and atypical infections associated with bronchiolitis (e.g. Mycoplasma pneumonia) ³.

History and etymology

Head cheese, believe it or not, is not cheese and is often not made of the head. It is, in fact, a type of terrine, with bits of meat scavenged from various parts of various animals (including the head) usually from a calf or pig. The appearance of the cut surface of this dubious delicacy has been likened to the previously described pattern.

The three-density pattern has been proposed as an alternative name for this sign as familiarity with head cheese is regionally limited ⁵.