Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Background: Legionnaires' disease has a false but enduring status as an exotic plague. Legionellosis classically presents as two distinct clinical entities, Legionnaires' disease, a severe multisystem disease involving pneumonia, and Pontiac fever, a self-limited flu-like illness.Hence; we conducted the present retrospective study to assess the radiographic findings in patients with Legionnaires' disease. Materials & methods: The present study included retrospective assessment of Chest Radiographic Manifestations of Legionnaires’ Disease. The present study included evaluation of reports and data of patients that were diagnosed with pneumonia or pneumonia-like disease and were referred for further investigations for confirming the diagnosis. Chest X-ray reports of all the patients were obtained from the records. Abnormalities present, were described as patchy, confluent or interstitial. We also recorded the data for the presence or absence of pleural effusion and cavitations. All the results were analyzed by SPSS software. Results:A total of 50 patients with diagnosis of Legionnaire’s disease were included in the present study. Positive findings are seen in 84 percent of the patients. Patchy pattern of distribution was the predominant pattern seen in 62 percent of the patient population, followed by interstitial and confluent pattern. Unilobar involvement was seen in 50 percent of the patients. Conclusion: Patients with Legionnaire’s disease exhibit a variety of radiographic manifestation varying from patchy distribution to interstitial or mixed pattern.
Key words: Chest radiograph, Legionnaire’s disease