Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Apr;13(7):1067-1075.
doi: 10.1111/1759-7714.14363. Epub 2022 Feb 24.

Correlation between CT imaging characteristics and pathological diagnosis for subcentimeter pulmonary nodules

Benchuang Hu  1 , Wangang Ren  1 , Zhen Feng  1 , Meng Li  1 , Xiao Li  1 , Rui Han  1 , Zhongmin Peng  1
Affiliations

Correlation between CT imaging characteristics and pathological diagnosis for subcentimeter pulmonary nodules

Benchuang Hu et al. Thorac Cancer. 2022 Apr.

Abstract

Background: Advances in chest computed tomography (CT) have resulted in more frequent detection of subcentimeter pulmonary nodules (SCPNs), some of which are non-benign and may represent invasive lung cancer. The present study aimed to explore the correlation between pathological diagnosis and the CT imaging manifestations of SCPNs.

Methods: This retrospective study included patients who underwent pulmonary resection for SCPNs at Shandong Provincial Hospital in China. Lesions were divided into five categories according to their morphological characteristics on CT: cotton ball, solid-filled with spiculation, solid-filled with smooth edges, mixed-density ground-glass, and vacuolar. We further analyzed lesion size, enhancement patterns, vascular aggregation, and SCPN traversing. Chi-square tests, Fisher's exact tests, and Welch's one-way analysis of variance were used to examine the correlation between CT imaging characteristics and pathological type.

Results: There were statistically significant differences in the morphological distributions of SCPNs with different pathological types, including benign lesions and malignant lesions at different stages (p < 0.01). The morphological distributions of the four subtypes of invasive lung adenocarcinoma also exhibited significant differences (p < 0.01). In addition, size and enhancement patterns differed significantly among different pathological types of SCPNs.

Conclusion: Different pathological types of SCPNs exhibit significant differences based on their morphological category, size, and enhancement pattern on CT imaging. These CT characteristics may assist in the qualitative diagnosis of SCPNs.

Keywords: adenocarcinoma; computed tomography imaging; histopathology; morphological; subcentimeter pulmonary nodules (SCPNs).

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Five different morphological types. The left side of each line is the image, and the right side is the paraffin pathology. (a) Type I, cotton ball. (b) Adenocarcinoma in situ. (c) Type II, solid filled with spiculation. (d) Invasive adenocarcinoma. (e) Type III, solid filled with smooth edges). (f) Pulmonary hamartoma. (g) Type IV,mixed density ground glass nodule, solid components distributed in the center. (h) Inflammatory pseudotumor. (i) Type IV, mixed density ground glass nodule, solid components distributed in the periphery. (j) Invasive adenocarcinoma. (k) Type IV, mixed density ground‐glass nodule, solid components are in the form of granular distribution. (l) Invasive adenocarcinoma. (m) Type V, vacuolar. (n) Invasive adenocarcinoma
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Sung H, Ferlay J, Siegel RL, Laversanne M, Soerjomataram I, Jemal A, et al. Global cancer statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin. 2021;71(3):209–49. 10.3322/caac.21660 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Oudkerk M, Liu S, Heuvelmans MA, Walter JE, Field JK. Lung cancer LDCT screening and mortality reduction – evidence, pitfalls and future perspectives. Nat Rev Clin Oncol. 2021;18(3):135–51. 10.1038/s41571-020-00432-6 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lv Y, Ye B. Advances in diagnosis and management of subcentimeter pulmonary nodules. Zhongguo Fei Ai Za Zhi. 2020;23(5):365–70. 10.3779/j.issn.1009-3419.2020.102.11 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jiang G, Chen C, Zhu Y, Xie D, Dai J, Jin K, et al. Shanghai pulmonary hospital experts consensus on the Management of Ground‐Glass Nodules Suspected as lung adenocarcinoma (version 1). Zhongguo Fei Ai Za Zhi. 2018;21(3):147–59. 10.3779/j.issn.1009-3419.2018.03.05 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zhou Q, Fan Y, Wang Y, Qiao Y, Wang G, Huang Y, et al. China National Guideline of classification, diagnosis and treatment for lung nodules (2016 version). Zhongguo Fei Ai Za Zhi. 2016;19(12):793–8. 10.3779/j.issn.1009-3419.2016.12.12 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms