Phys Clinical Cases · respiratory
Solitary Pulmonary Nodule — DCE Clinical Case
DCE data-interpretation station: a CT report describing an incidental pulmonary nodule plus a brief history — structured reading, risk stratification, framework selection and the plan, with differentials and probing questions.
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Target exams
Approach — what the examiner is watching
A data station with a CT report is a structured-reading test, not a knowledge test. The examiner watches whether you read in categories, state the single most important missing datum (prior imaging), classify the nodule correctly, check the patient's eligibility for the framework you are about to quote, and land on a defensible interval or escalation — in that order [1].
Read the report aloud in categories before interpreting: what (a nodule — 14 mm), what kind (part-solid — the highest-risk morphology per millimetre), where (right upper lobe — a malignant-leaning location), what comparison (none — the temporal question is open), and what else (no visible adenopathy on limited slices — reassuring but incomplete, because an abdominal CT is not a staging CT) [1] [4].
You have read the opening of this clinical case. The complete unit — every section and its primary-source references — is part of the Physician Medicine fellowship atlas.
References6Show ledgerHide ledger
- [1]MacMahon H, Naidich DP, Goo JM, et al. Guidelines for Management of Incidental Pulmonary Nodules Detected on CT Images: From the Fleischner Society 2017 Radiology, 2017.PMID 28240562
- [2]McWilliams A, Tammemagi MC, Mayo JR, et al. Probability of cancer in pulmonary nodules detected on first screening CT N Engl J Med, 2013.PMID 24004118
- [3]Gould MK, Maclean CC, Kuschner WG, et al. Accuracy of positron emission tomography for diagnosis of pulmonary nodules and mass lesions: a meta-analysis JAMA, 2001.PMID 11180735
- [4]Henschke CI, Yankelevitz DF, Mirtcheva R, et al. CT screening for lung cancer: frequency and significance of part-solid and nonsolid nodules AJR Am J Roentgenol, 2002.PMID 11959700
- [5]Heerink WJ, de Bock GH, de Jonge GJ, et al. Complication rates of CT-guided transthoracic lung biopsy: meta-analysis Eur Radiol, 2017.PMID 27108299
- [6]Callister ME, Baldwin DR, Akram AR, et al. British Thoracic Society guidelines for the investigation and management of pulmonary nodules Thorax, 2015.PMID 26082159