[Slow progression of a ground glass lesion - need for long term vigilance].
BACKGROUND
The identification of a ground-glass opacity on chest CT is a frequent problem because of the number of exams performed.


METHODS
We report the case of a man of 66 years with a very slowly increasing ground-glass opacity during 5 years. Although the lesion was negative for positron emission tomography and because of its increasing size and the appearance of a solid part, our patient underwent surgery. The final diagnosis was stage I adenocarcinoma.


CONCLUSIONS
The management of a ground glass opacity differs from solid nodules of the lung. The rate of malignancy is high in the published studies, especially in south-east Asia. PET is not as useful as for solid nodules. Long term follow up is necessary because of the long doubling time in these neoplasms.
Paleiron
N
N
Service de Pneumologie, Hôpital d'instruction des Armées, Clermont Tonnerre, Brest, France. nicolas.paleiron@free.fr
André
M
M
Pottier
E
E
Natali
F
F
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D000368:Aged; D018450:Disease Progression; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed