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Vol.38 No.1 contents | Japanese/English |
- Original Article -
Serial Changes in CT Findings of Small Peripheral Pulmonary Adenocarcinomas Followed up for More than One Year
Kazuo Awai1, Koichi Fujikawa2, Susumu Nakamura3, Kosuke Yamane4, Takashi Nishisaka5, Yukio Takeshima5, Yoshiro Tachiyama6 and Katushide Ito11Department of Radiology, Hiroshima University School of Medicine, 2Department of Medical Imaging, Hiroshima General Hospital, 3Central Clinic (Hiroshima City), 4Department of Radiology, Yoshijima Hospital, 5Second Department of Pathology, Hiroshima University School of Medicine, 6Department of Pathology, Hiroshima City Hospital
To determine serial changes of the disease over time, we reviewed CT scans of five patients with histologically proven peripheral adenocarcinoma of the lung. All cases had been observed for more than one year. The tumor doubling time was 14.8∼ 36.8 months for well-to-moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma and 10.0 months for poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. In three patients with well-to-moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma, increase of vessel convergence and pleural indentation toward the tumor were observed although the tumor remained unchanged in size. An air bronchogram was observed in the tumor in all patients, and it became indistinct in three patients in the course of time. On follow-up CT examination of small pulmonary nodules, the diagnosis of adenocarcinoma should be suspected when vessel convergence and pleural indentation toward the tumor increases or air bronchogram in the tumor become indistinct in the course of time.
key words: Peripheral lung cancer, Adenocarcinoma, CT
Received: August 7, 1997
Accepted: December 9, 1997
JJLC 38 (1): 19-28, 1998
