Inferior pulmonary ligament
Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
At the time the article was created Henry Knipe had no recorded disclosures.
View Henry Knipe's current disclosuresAt the time the article was last revised Liz Silverstone had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.
View Liz Silverstone's current disclosuresThe inferior pulmonary ligament (or pulmonary ligament) is not a true ligament; it is a normal and variable pleural fold which is sometimes seen on CT and may cause a triangular peak along the diaphragm on CXR.
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Gross anatomy
The inferior pulmonary ligament is formed by a double layer of visceral pleura with mediastinal pleura and connective tissue that extends from the root of the hilum towards the dome of the hemidiaphragm. It tethers the medial surface of the lower lobe to the mediastinum and allows hilar vessels to dilate when cardiac output is increased.
Contents
inferior pulmonary vein (at the apex) 1
Radiographic features
CT
thin, linear structure that inferior to the hilum on lung windows 3
most apparent at the level of the hemidiaphragm arising from the paraesophageal mediastinum 4
twice as commonly seen on the left than the right; evident in ~50% of patients 2, 3
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Differential diagnosis
References
- 1. Brant WE, Helms C. Fundamentals of Diagnostic Radiology. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. ISBN:1608319121. Read it at Google Books - Find it at Amazon
- 2. Rost RC, Proto AV. Inferior pulmonary ligament: computed tomographic appearance. Radiology. 1983;148 (2): 479-83. Pubmed citation
- 3. Cooper C, Moss AA, Buy JN et-al. CT appearance of the normal inferior pulmonary ligament. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 1983;141 (2): 237-40. doi:10.2214/ajr.141.2.237 - Pubmed citation
- 4. Andy Adam, Adrian K. Dixon, Cornelia Schaefer-Prokop et al. Grainger & Allison's Diagnostic Radiology, 2 Volume Set. (2020) ISBN: 9780702075247 - Google Books
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