multilobar

Multilobar is an adjective used in anatomy and medicine to describe a structure, lesion, or disease process that involves more than one lobe of an organ. The word combines multi- with lobe, referencing the lobar subdivisions found in organs such as the lungs, liver, and brain. The term is descriptive and is not itself a diagnosis; it communicates the extent of involvement to inform evaluation and management.

In the lungs, multilobar pneumonia or infection denotes disease that affects multiple pulmonary lobes, and may be unilateral or bilateral. This contrasts with lobar pneumonia, which is confined to a single lobe and typically shows more confluent consolidation. In neurology and neurosurgery, multilobar describes involvement of several cerebral lobes by seizures, tumors, or malformations, which can complicate treatment planning. In hepatology and other organ systems, multilobar disease can refer to lesions or processes that extend across more than one lobe, such as tumors spanning both liver lobes.

Clinically, the designation helps convey disease severity and distribution, guiding imaging follow-up, antibiotic or chemotherapy choices, and procedural planning. The term is often used alongside more specific locational descriptors (for example, multilobar right lung involvement or left temporal and frontal multilobar abnormalities). See also lobar, lobe, lobectomy.