Abstract: Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of multi-slice helical CT(MSCT) in pleural tuberculoma, and to improve the understanding of this disease. MethodsWe analyzed retrospectively the MSCT and post-processing film features in 13 pleural tuberculoma diagnosed by clinic or surgical pathology. ResultsSingle pleural tuberculoma were seen in 10 cases and multiple pleural tuberculomas in 3 cases. The CT scan showed papillary nodules in 5 cases, round or elliptic nodules in 6 cases and irregular nodules in 2 cases.The lesion density was homogeneous in most cases, and calcifications or necrosis in a few cases, and the lesion margin was smooth. No or slight enhancement of the tuberculoma can be seen on contrast CT. The adjacent pleura can be seen thickening, adhesion and calcification. There were 9 cases accompanied with hydrothorax, 10 cases with pulmonary tuberculosis and 7 cases with enlarged and calcified mediastinal nodals. The MSCT post-processing images showed the features of pleural tuberculoma completely, intuitionistically and stereoscopically. ConclusionsThe MSCT post-processing technique could make up for the lack of axial CT scan. It is high valuable to improve the diagnosis accuracy of pleural tuberculoma.

Key words: Tuberculoma/diagnosis, Tuberculosis,pleural/diagnosis, Tomography,spiral computed