miliare

Miliare is an Italian adjective used in medical and scientific contexts to denote a pattern or process that resembles millet seeds. In English, the corresponding term is miliary, and the root comes from Latin milium, meaning millet.

Etymology and usage: The word miliare stems from Latin origins and is typically encountered in Italian-language medical literature. It describes a distribution or appearance characterized by numerous small points or nodules, each similar in size to a millet seed.

Primary medical meaning: The most familiar use is in reference to miliary tuberculosis (tubercolosi miliari). This is a disseminated form of tuberculosis in which Mycobacterium tuberculosis spreads hematogenously, producing widespread, tiny nodules around 1–2 millimeters in diameter. Imaging often reveals a diffuse, millet-seed pattern in the lungs and sometimes other organs. Clinically, patients may have non-specific symptoms such as fever, night sweats, and weight loss. Diagnosis relies on microbiological testing, imaging, and clinical assessment, and treatment follows standard anti-tuberculous therapy.

Broader radiologic usage: The term miliary is also applied more generally to describe a pattern of numerous small pulmonary nodules arising from various causes, including fungal infections (e.g., histoplasmosis), certain metastatic cancers, or other hematogenously spread diseases. The nodules are typically uniform in size and diffusely distributed.

Relation to other terms: In dermatology, miliaria refers to a different condition caused by sweat duct obstruction and is not the same as miliary patterns in the lungs. The Italian term miliare is thus context-dependent and most often appears in discussions of systemic or radiographic patterns rather than dermatologic conditions.

See also: Miliary pattern, Miliaria, Tuberculosis.