Usefulness of brain scans in metastatic carcinoma of the lung.
The usefulness of brain scans for detecting unsuspected cerebral metastasis in patients with carcinoma of the lung was studied in a group of 35 such patients who had had routine brain scans as part of the initial evaluation. Seven (20%) had scans that were positive for tumor, but six of these seven had neurologic deficits corresponding to the brain-scan abnormality. Routine brain scans for evaluation of carcinoma of the lung are not justified if neurologic examination is normal.
D000368:Aged; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging