title: Management strategy of solitary pulmonary nodules.
abstract: Solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs) are increasingly detected with the widespread use of chest computed tomography (CT) scans. The management of patients with SPN should begin with estimating the probability of cancer from the patient's clinical risk factors and CT characteristics. The decision-making process need to incorporate the probability of cancer, the potential benefits and harms of surgery, the accuracy of the available diagnostic tests and patient preferences. For patients with a very low probability of cancer, careful observation with serial CT is warranted. For patients in the intermediate range of probabilities, either CT-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) or positron emission tomography (PET), is recommended. For those with a high probability of cancer, surgical diagnosis is warranted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nanjing Chest Hospital, Nanjing 210029, China; ; Nanjing Clinical Center of Respiratory Diseases, Nanjing 210029, China;
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhan
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nanjing Chest Hospital, Nanjing 210029, China; ; Nanjing Clinical Center of Respiratory Diseases, Nanjing 210029, China;
authors.forename: Haiyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nanjing Chest Hospital, Nanjing 210029, China; ; Nanjing Clinical Center of Respiratory Diseases, Nanjing 210029, China;
authors.forename: Chunhua
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nanjing Chest Hospital, Nanjing 210029, China; ; Nanjing Clinical Center of Respiratory Diseases, Nanjing 210029, China;
authors.forename: Keke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nanjing Chest Hospital, Nanjing 210029, China; ; Nanjing Clinical Center of Respiratory Diseases, Nanjing 210029, China;
authors.forename: Zhibo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Nanjing Clinical Center of Respiratory Diseases, Nanjing 210029, China; ; Department of Respiratory Medicine, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Nanjing 210002, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Song
keywords: Solitary pulmonary nodule (SPNs); ground-glass opacity (GGO); management strategy; subcentimeter nodules