Solitary pulmonary nodule and (18)F-FDG PET/CT. Part 2: accuracy, cost-effectiveness, and current recommendations.

A solitary pulmonary nodule is a common, often incidental, radiographic finding. The investigation and differential diagnosis of solitary pulmonary nodules remain complex, because there are overlaps between the characteristics of benign and malignant processes. There are currently many strategies for evaluating solitary pulmonary nodules.

Solitary pulmonary nodule and (18)F-FDG PET/CT. Part 1: epidemiology, morphological evaluation and cancer probability.

Solitary pulmonary nodule corresponds to a common radiographic finding, which is frequently detected incidentally. The investigation of this entity remains complex, since characteristics of benign and malignant processes overlap in the differential diagnosis. Currently, many strategies are available to evaluate solitary pulmonary nodules with the main objective of characterizing benign lesions as best as possible, while avoiding to expose patients to the risks inherent to invasive methods, besides correctly detecting cases of lung cancer so as the potential curative treatment is not delayed.