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Vol.37 No.7 contents | Japanese/English |
- Original Article -
Resected Solitary Lung Nodules in Patients who had Previously Undergone Resection of Malignant Tumors
Shoko Kawanami, Hideyuki Watanabe, Takatoshi Aoki, Kumi Hatanaka, Hajime Nakata, Masamitsu Kido*, Ryoichi Nakanishi** and Kosei Yasumoto**Departments of Radiology, Respiratory Disease*, and Surgery II**, University of Occupational and Environmental Health
The CT and clinical features of 28 surgically resected solitary lung nodules which developed in patients in whom malignant tumors had previously been recected were evaluated. Pulmonary metastasis was the most frequent diagnosis comprising 15 of 28 (53.6%). Overall, 23 of the 28 (82.1%) were malignant tumors including 6 lung cancers and 2 unclassifiable cases. There were 5 benign lesions. On CT, most metastases were spherical with a smooth margin, and only 2 were non-spherical shape, while 5 showed a moderately irregular margin. They were frequently located in lower lobes. Five of 6 lung cancers were non-spherical with markedly irregular margins. A solitary lung nodule developing in a patient with a history of a malignant tumor is most likely to be a metastasis if it is spherical shape with a smooth margin on CT. However, lung cancer and benign lesions can also develop, therefore surgical resection seems to be necessary when a clinical diagnosis is not possible.
key words: Solitary lung nodule, Patient with malignant tumor, CT
Received: September 16, 1997
Accepted: November 13, 1997
JJLC 37 (7): 981-989, 1997
