Solidification into a firm dense mass; applied especially to inflammatory induration of a normally aerated lung due to the presence of cellular exudate in the pulmonary alveoli as commonly seen in pneumonia. [L. consolido, to make thick, condense, fr. solidus, solid]
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con·sol·i·da·tion kən-.säl-ə-'dā-shən n the process by which an infected lung passes from an aerated collapsible condition to one of airless solid consistency through the accumulation of exudate in the alveoli and adjoining ducts <pneumonic \consolidation> also tissue that has undergone consolidation <areas of \consolidation>
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n.
1. the state of the lung in which the alveoli (air sacs) are filled with fluid produced by inflamed tissue, as in pneumonia. It is diagnosed from its dullness to percussion, bronchial breathing (see breath sounds) in the patient, and from the distribution of shadows on the chest X-ray.
2. the stage of repair of a broken bone following callus formation, during which the callus is transformed by osteoblast into mature bone.
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con·sol·i·da·tion (kən-sol″ĭ-daґshən) [L. consolidatio] solidification; the process of becoming or the condition of being solid, as when the lung becomes firm as air spaces are filled with exudate in pneumonia.
Areas of consolidation and atelectasis and increased interstitial markings (arrow) in a 20-year-old patient with chronic severe aspiration.
Medical dictionary. 2011.