Bat wing appearance

Bat wing appearance is a radiologic sign referring to bilateral perihilar lung shadowing seen in frontal chest X-ray and in chest CT. The most common reason for bat wing appearance is the accumulation of oedema fluid in the lungs. The batwing sign is symmetrical, usually showing ground glass appearance and spares the lung cortices. This sign is seen in individuals with pneumonia, inhalation injuries, pulmonary haemorrhage, sarcoidosis, bronchoalveolar carcinoma, rapid onset heart failure and pulmonary alveolar proteinosis. It is also referred to as 'butterfly wing' or 'angel wing' due to the likenesses between the wings.

References

↑ Jain, Sanjay N; Modi, Tanvi; Aswani, Yashant; Varma, Ravi U (2019). "Chest radiography in adult critical care unit: A pictorial review". The Indian Journal of Radiology & Imaging. 29 (4): 418–425. doi:10.4103/ijri.IJRI_329_19. ISSN 0971-3026. PMC 6958895. PMID 31949345.
↑ "Bat Wing Pulmonary Opacities (Concept Id: C3273929) - MedGen - NCBI". Retrieved 17 October 2021.
↑ Khan, Ali Nawaz; Al-Jahdali, Hamdan; AL-Ghanem, Sarah; Gouda, Alaa (2009). "Reading chest radiographs in the critically ill (Part II): Radiography of lung pathologies common in the ICU patient". Annals of Thoracic Medicine. 4 (3): 149–157. doi:10.4103/1817-1737.53349. ISSN 1817-1737. PMC 2714572. PMID 19641649.
1 2 Yudin, Andrey (2014). "Bat Wing, Butterfly, or Angel Wing Sign". Metaphorical Signs in Computed Tomography of Chest and Abdomen. Springer International Publishing. p. 11. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-04013-4_6. ISBN 978-3-319-04012-7. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
1 2 "Bat wing or butterfly sign : Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology". Ovid. doi:10.1111/1754-9485.06_12785~bat-wing-or-butterfly-sign-pulmonary-oedema?redirectionsource=fulltextview. Retrieved 2026-06-03.

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[1] Jain, Sanjay N; Modi, Tanvi; Aswani, Yashant; Varma, Ravi U (2019). "Chest radiography in adult critical care unit: A pictorial review". The Indian Journal of Radiology & Imaging. 29 (4): 418–425. doi:10.4103/ijri.IJRI_329_19. ISSN 0971-3026. PMC 6958895. PMID 31949345.

[2] "Bat Wing Pulmonary Opacities (Concept Id: C3273929) - MedGen - NCBI". Retrieved 17 October 2021.

[3] Khan, Ali Nawaz; Al-Jahdali, Hamdan; AL-Ghanem, Sarah; Gouda, Alaa (2009). "Reading chest radiographs in the critically ill (Part II): Radiography of lung pathologies common in the ICU patient". Annals of Thoracic Medicine. 4 (3): 149–157. doi:10.4103/1817-1737.53349. ISSN 1817-1737. PMC 2714572. PMID 19641649.

[springer-4] 1 2 Yudin, Andrey (2014). "Bat Wing, Butterfly, or Angel Wing Sign". Metaphorical Signs in Computed Tomography of Chest and Abdomen. Springer International Publishing. p. 11. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-04013-4_6. ISBN 978-3-319-04012-7. Retrieved 17 October 2021.

[:0-5] 1 2 "Bat wing or butterfly sign : Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology". Ovid. doi:10.1111/1754-9485.06_12785~bat-wing-or-butterfly-sign-pulmonary-oedema?redirectionsource=fulltextview. Retrieved 2026-06-03.

v t e Radiologic signs
Breasts	Acorn cyst sign Teacup sign
Cardiovascular	Aortic unfolding Aortic nipple sign Cœur en sabot Dense artery sign Halo sign High-attenuation crescent sign Water bottle heart
Gastrointestinal	Bowler hat sign Coffee bean sign Colon cut-off sign Comb sign Cupola sign Double bubble Double duct sign Endoexoenteric Football sign Hampton's line Hot quadrate sign Klemm's sign Leadpipe colon Mercedes-Benz sign Mumoli's sign Omental cake Pneumatosis intestinalis Pyloric tit sign Rigler's sign Rigler's triad Sentinel loop Small bowel faeces sign Stepladder sign Whirlpool sign
Musculoskeletal	Absent bowtie sign Anteater nose sign Blade of grass sign Brim sign Celery stalking Cheerio sign Cockade sign Codfish vertebra Corduroy sign Crescent sign Dagger sign Deep lateral femoral notch sign Double posterior cruciate ligament sign Dripping candle wax sign Empty vertebral body sign Fabella sign Fairbank's changes Fat pad sign/Sail sign of the elbow Gilula's lines Growth arrest lines Hilgenreiner's line Honda sign J-shaped sella sign Klein's line Licked candy stick appearance Light bulb sign Napoleon hat sign Notching of the ribs Osteopathia striata Pencil-in-cup sign Perkin's line Polka dot sign Popcorn calcification Sandwich vertebra Scottie dog sign Shiny corner sign Terry-Thomas sign Thurstan Holland sign Trethowan's sign
Neurological	Boomerang sign Dense artery sign Dense MCA sign Dural tail sign Empty sella sign Eye of the tiger sign Face of the giant panda sign Hot nose sign Hotcross bun sign Insular ribbon sign White cerebellum sign
Oncological	Bowl of grapes sign Misty mesentery sign
Respiratory	Air crescent sign Bat wing appearance Black pleura sign Cannonball sign Chang sign Comet tail sign Continuous diaphragm sign Cottage loaf sign Crazy paving Deep sulcus sign Double bronchial wall sign Falciform ligament sign Fleischner sign Golden S sign Ground-glass opacity Hampton hump Hilum overlay sign Holly leaf sign Juxtaphrenic peak sign Kerley lines Knuckle sign Mediastinal shift Palla's sign Peribronchial cuffing Sail sign of the chest Silhouette sign Steeple sign Thumbprint sign Traction bronchiectasis Tree-in-bud sign Westermark sign
Urogenital	Bear paw sign Canga's bead symptom Drooping lily sign Faceless kidney sign Fishhook ureter sign Jackstone calculus Maiden waist deformity Putty kidney
Other	Mickey Mouse sign Rice grain calcification Ring-enhancing lesion Tram track Water lily sign