Pulmonary spread of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis with malignant transformation: CT-findings and airflow simulation

Malignant transformation of pulmonary lesions of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis is a rare finding. Only a few cases are described in the radiological literature. This case report presents the radiological findings of the disease and for the first time introduces computational fluid dynamics (CFD), to describe the flow pattern of the airflow inside the scarred tracheobronchial tree. CFD simulates fluids in different kind of geometric models based on numerical calculations. It is well known in aerospace and automobile industries, but can also be adapted to simulate the airflow in anatomical correct models of the tracheobronchial tree.