The new guidelines for managing incidental pulmonary nodules published by the Fleischner Society in 2017 reflect an improved understanding of the risk factors and biologic features of lung cancer. Specific topics emphasized in the updated guidelines include a new threshold size for follow-up, the importance of the morphologic features of nodules, accurate nodule measurements, recognition of subsolid components, understanding interval growth or change in nodule morphology, and knowledge of patient risk factors. The updated guidelines enable greater personal flexibility in the decision-making process and encourage individualized management of pulmonary nodules. These factors may introduce new challenges for radiologists, who previously used solely nodule size to make management recommendations. The authors describe eight scenarios that illustrate the challenges potentially encountered when applying the new guidelines to pulmonary nodule management. RSNA, 2018.
Primary chest wall neoplasms are uncommon and comprise a heterogeneous group of lesions that may be challenging to classify and diagnose. These tumors may be primary or secondary, malignant or benign, and arise from cartilaginous/osseous structures or soft tissues. The role of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in the evaluation of chest wall tumors continues to expand given its superior soft tissue contrast relative to computed tomography. MR imaging can facilitate differentiation of neoplasms from normal chest wall structures and other disease processes due to infection and inflammation, and can fully characterize abnormalities by demonstrating the various internal components of complex lesions. It is important that radiologists be able to identify key features of primary chest wall neoplasms on MR imaging to provide focused differential diagnoses and guide patient management.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.