Imaging the solitary pulmonary nodule

Jeffrey B Alpert; Conor M Lowry; Jane P Ko

doi:10.1016/j.ccm.2015.02.003

Imaging the solitary pulmonary nodule

Clin Chest Med. 2015 Jun;36(2):161-78, vii. doi: 10.1016/j.ccm.2015.02.003. Epub 2015 Apr 10.

Authors

Jeffrey B Alpert¹, Conor M Lowry², Jane P Ko²

Affiliations

¹ Thoracic Section, Department of Radiology, NYU Langone Medical Center, 660 First Avenue, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10016, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Thoracic Section, Department of Radiology, NYU Langone Medical Center, 660 First Avenue, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10016, USA.

PMID: 26024598
DOI: 10.1016/j.ccm.2015.02.003

Abstract

The development of widespread lung cancer screening programs has the potential to dramatically increase the number of thoracic computed tomography (CT) examinations performed annually in the United States, resulting in a greater number of newly detected, indeterminate solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs). Additional imaging studies, such as fluorodeoxyglucose F 18 (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET), have been shown to provide valuable information in the assessment of indeterminate SPNs. Newer technologies, such as contrast-enhanced dual-energy chest CT and FDG-PET/CT, also have the potential to facilitate diagnosis of potentially malignant SPNs.

Keywords: Lung cancer; Lung cancer screening; PET/CT; Pulmonary nodule; Screening chest CT; Solitary lung nodule; Solitary pulmonary nodule.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Early Detection of Cancer*
Humans
Lung Neoplasms / diagnosis*
Positron-Emission Tomography / methods*
Solitary Pulmonary Nodule / diagnosis*
Tomography, X-Ray Computed / methods*