What is pulmonary parenchyma?

Pulmonary parenchyma is a term that refers to the parts of the lungs involved in gas transfer. These include the alveoli, interstitium, blood vessels, bronchi and bronchioles.

Lung parenchyma is susceptible to a range of diseases, which may cause increased lucency or an increase in density on a chest X-ray. As the density of lung tissue visible on an X-ray is related to the actual density of a lung, plain radiographs are used for diagnosing parenchymal lung diseases, according to Radiopaedia. Some of the pulmonary opacifications visible in parenchymal lung diseases include nodular opacifications, interstitial opacification, atelectatic opacification and airspace opacification.