Imaging the solitary pulmonary nodule.

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.