Management of incidental pulmonary nodule in CT: a survey by the Italian College of Chest Radiology

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study is to present the results of the Italian survey on the management of pulmonary nodules incidentally identified at computed tomography (CT).

Materials and methods: An online electronic survey, consisting of 23 multiple-choice questions, was created using the SurveyMonkey web-based tool. The questionnaire was developed by the Board of the Italian College of Chest Radiology of the Italian Society of Medical and Interventional Radiology (SIRM) and by an experienced group of Italian Academic Chest Radiologists. The link to the online electronic survey was submitted by email to all the SIRM members.

Results: A total of 767 radiologists, corresponding to 7.5% of all the SIRM members, participated in the online survey. The majority of participants (92%) routinely describe the attenuation of pulmonary nodules in the report, and 84.1% recommend the further follow-up, with 92.7% of respondents taking CT nodule morphological features into consideration. The 57.7% of participants adhere to the Fleischner Society guidelines for the management of incidental pulmonary nodules. However, 56.6% and 75.6% of respondents have a more cautious approach than that recommended by the guidelines and tend to use a shorter follow-up for both solid and ground-glass nodules, respectively. Finally, 94.5% of participants favor congresses and refresher courses dedicated to insights on lung nodule diagnosis and management.

Conclusions: This survey demonstrates that the management of pulmonary nodules incidentally detected on CT is still complex and controversial. The majority of SIRM members express a need for an update on this topic.

Keywords: Chest radiology; Computed tomography; Italian survey; Management; Pulmonary nodule.