What radiographic finding is typical for bronchiolitis?

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Multiple Choice

What radiographic finding is typical for bronchiolitis?

Explanation:
Bronchiolitis inflames the small airways (bronchioles) and causes mucus plugging, leading to airway obstruction and air trapping. On a chest X-ray this shows up as hyperinflation, often with flattening of the diaphragms, together with thickened bronchial walls appearing as peribronchial thickening. This combination is the classic imaging pattern for bronchiolitis in infants. Lobar consolidation would point toward bacterial pneumonia, not bronchiolitis. Pleural effusion is not typical in bronchiolitis. Atelectasis can occur but is less characteristic and usually less prominent than the marked hyperinflation with peribronchial thickening seen in bronchiolitis.

Bronchiolitis inflames the small airways (bronchioles) and causes mucus plugging, leading to airway obstruction and air trapping. On a chest X-ray this shows up as hyperinflation, often with flattening of the diaphragms, together with thickened bronchial walls appearing as peribronchial thickening. This combination is the classic imaging pattern for bronchiolitis in infants.

Lobar consolidation would point toward bacterial pneumonia, not bronchiolitis. Pleural effusion is not typical in bronchiolitis. Atelectasis can occur but is less characteristic and usually less prominent than the marked hyperinflation with peribronchial thickening seen in bronchiolitis.

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