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Vol.41 No.3 contents | Japanese/English |
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- Original Article -
New Classification of Lung Nodules Based on Ground-glass Opacity on High-Resolution Computed Tomography
Keiko Kuriyama1, Miki Nishikubo1, Mitsuko Tsubamoto3, Jun Arisawa1, Chikazumi Kuroda1, Koji Takami2, Hideoki Yokouchi2, Masahiko Higashiyama2 and Ken Kodama21)Departments of Diagnostic Radiology, and, 2)Thoracic Surgery, Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease, 3)Department of Radiology, Osaka University School of Medicine
Objective: This study investigated whether high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) could be used to classify small lung nodules on the basis of the extent of ground-glass opacity (GG0) revealed by HRCT. Methods: Two hundred thirty-two surgically resected, small peripheral lung nodules from 232 patients (132 men and 100 women; mean age, 60 years) were studied. Lesion diameters were 5-20 mm (median, 14 mm). The extent of GGO within lesions (% GGO) on preoperative HRCT was reviewed by three thoracic radiologists. According to the distribution of % GGO, 232 lesions were classified into 4 groups: soft tissue density type (0-9%), soft tissue density-predominant type (10-49%), GGO-predominant type (50-89%), and GGO type (90-100%). Results: Eighty-eight percent of the GGO type, and 60% of the GGO-predominant type were Noguchi type A or type B adenocarcinomas. Fifty-one percent of the soft tissue density-predominant type were Noguchi type C adenocarcinoma, 22% were type A or type B adenocarcinoma. Thirty-five percent of the soft tissue density type were benign nodules, 28% were type D, E, and F adenocarcinomas, and 15% were lung cancers other than adenocarcinoma. Conclusion: The determination of GGO area in each lesion and classification based on GGO area as revealed on HRCT were useful for differentiating pulmonary nodules for treatment planning and for establishing indications for biopsy and surgical resection.
key words: Lung nodule, HRCT, Pulmonary adenocarcinoma, Ground-glass opacity
Received: December 25, 2000
Accepted: March 19, 2001
JJLC 41 (3): 207-211, 2001
