Incidence of pulmonary nodules detected by computed tomography in patients with bronchial carcinoma.

Computed tomography (CT) is more sensitive in detecting pulmonary nodules than conventional chest radiography. The incidence of pulmonary nodules on thoracic CT scans, not visible on chest radiographs, in patients with small-cell carcinoma of the bronchus (SCCB) was 27%, and in patients with non-small-cell carcinoma (non-SCCB) the incidence was 28%. Some of these nodules may be malignant. This has implications for the surgical staging of patients with lung cancer in the United Kingdom, where there is a lower incidence of benign granulomatous nodules than in the USA.