Frequency of extrathoracic metastases from bronchogenic carcinoma in patients with normal-sized hilar and mediastinal lymph nodes on CT.

The only cure for bronchogenic carcinoma is complete surgical resection; the most common reason for not attempting surgical resection is mediastinal adenopathy. However, we have found that even when the lymph nodes are normal in size, the presence of extrathoracic metastases may preclude successful resection. In a series of 263 patients with pathologically proved non-small cell bronchogenic carcinoma who were seen over a 2-year period, we identified 95 patients in whom a preoperative CT scan showed only a solitary lung mass without evidence of hilar or mediastinal metastases, pleural effusion, or definite chest-wall involvement.

Normal aortoiliac diameters by CT.

In spite of the vital role CT plays in the evaluation of vascular disease, no standard CT derived dimensions for the abdominal aorta, iliac, and femoral arteries have been established. A retrospective study of the CT scans of 260 patients was performed with patients separated by sex and age. Aortic diameter was measured at predetermined suprarenal, renal, and infrarenal locations and single measurements of the iliac and femoral arteries were made bilaterally.