Use of combined PET/CT imaging in evaluation of the solitary pulmonary nodule: Principles, techniques, and pitfalls

摘要

Solitary pulmonary nodule (SPN) is typically defined as an intra-parenchymal focal, round or oval area of increased opacity <3 cm in diameter.12 Nearly 1 in every 500 chest radiographs taken reveals a newly diagnosed SPN,, More than 150,000 SPNs are detected annually in the United States alone,3 This estimate is mainly based on chest radiographs. Now, with increasing use of computed tomography (CT) of the chest for screening of lung cancer and chest CT angiography (CTA) for diagnosing pulmonary embolus and for cardiac evaluation, this number is rapidly increasing.