What Does ". There Is A 3 Mm Right Upper Lobe Pulmonary Nodule On Image 78.." Mean?

Posted on Thu, 20 Feb 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 20 Feb 2014 Answered on

Thu, 20 Mar 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : Had a ct chest pulmonary embolism w contrast on 12/20/13, 59 yr old male smoker. Findings: There is no pneumonia or pleural effusion. There is a 3 mm right upper lobe pulmonary nodule on image 78, 2 mm right upper lobe pulmonary nodule on image 59 5 mm right middle lobe pulmonary nodule on image 47, 5,mm right lower lobe pulmonary nodule on image 31. There is mild centrilobular emphysemia. There is subsegmental atelectasis in right middle lobe, lingual and both lower lobes. There is atherosclerotic calcification of coronary arteries. Heart is normal in size. There is no segmental pulmonary embolus. Impression: Small pulmonary nodules, considering patient's history of smoking, copd, 6 moth followup CT is recommended. Is impression of 6 month follow , Good? Signs of lung cancer indicated?

Answered by Dr. Indranil Ghosh (20 hours later)

Brief Answer: Does not look like cancer as per the report Detailed Answer: Hi Thanks for your query. These findings are more likely related to COPD and infection rather than lung cancer. The nodules are too tiny to characterize further I believe. Hence, a followup in 6 months appear reasonable to me. In my opinion, possibility of cancer is very low. Hope I have answered your query. I will be available to answer further followup queries, if any.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar