My wife is a healthy 34yrs old, non-smoker, no second hand smoke inhalation, just gave birth to four months ago and a stay home mom from ASIA.
She did a routine checkup for PPD testing and nurse that read the result as positive with 9mm indunation.
We were asked to do a Chest X-Ray, the X-ray result show abnormality on the Upper Right Lobe, and a CT scan we recommended for further evaluation to check for TB. We went for a CT scan and the result are as follows.
Findings: There is an irregular marginated peripheral right upper lobe nodule corresponding to the opacity seen on checst x-ray, measuring 10x14mm. There is no evidence of calcification or cavitation within this nodule. There is some mild adjacent patchy linear opacity. Remaining Lung fields are clear. There is no evidence of pleural effusion. There is no evidence of endobronchial or endotracheal lesion.
There is no evidence of medistinal or hilar adenopathy. No calcified medistinal or hilar lymp nodes are identified. The thyroid gland is small and heterogeneous and is partially visualized. There is no evidence of axillary adenopathy.
Visualized portions of the upper abdomen are unremarkable
There is no evidence of worrisome lytic or blastic bony lesion.
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Her Pulmonologist asked for TB Blood testing. we are still waiting for the result. My wife is feeling worrisome. Does any of this sounds like a Lung Cancer?
Thank you so much for taking a look into this.
Reply # - September 6, 2012, 06:24 AM
Reply To: Need help interpreting CT scan result for my wife
The CT scan shows an isolated nodule, but that doesn't say what it is. Lung nodules are common, and in people with a low risk for cancer, they usually aren't cancer. However, there are a few ways to learn more about what it represents:
1) repeat a scan after a period of a few months, perhaps with antibiotics in between, to see if it gets bigger, smaller, or stays the same
2) do a PET scan (which looks at metabolic activity of questionable nodules) to see if the nodule lights up on PET. If significantly metabolically active, it's more suggestive that it's something real to chase down, though the result in itself doesn't say whether a person has cancer or not. Only a biopsy will do that.
3) Biopsy the nodule, such as through a CT-guided needle biopsy, or sometimes a surgeon will just do a small incision and use a laparoscopic set-up to cut out a piece of lung with the nodule in it if the nodule is in a very peripheral part of the lung.
Beyond that, you'll really need to talk with one of her own doctors to get more details.
I hope your wife doesn't need our services for cancer information, but we'll be here if there's a need.
Good luck.
-Dr. West
Reply # - September 7, 2012, 05:08 AM
Reply To: Need help interpreting CT scan result for my wife
Thank you so much Dr West for answering my question.