Background & objective: At present, the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of peripheral solitary pulmonary lesions is a hot-spot in researches of thoracic imageology, and bronchial changes is the morphologic basis of peripheral solitary pulmonary nodules, especially peripheral lung cancer. This study was to investigate the value of multi-slice CT (MSCT) in evaluating bronchial changes of peripheral solitary pulmonary lesions through a radiologic-pathologic study.
Methods: Thirty patients with solitary pulmonary lesions were scanned using MSCT. Image data were reconstructed to display bronchial changes, and were compared with the results of postoperative pathology.
Results: CT bronchial sign was positive in all patients. The bronchus on pathologic section was showed in 19 (63.3%) patients, but not in 11 (36.7%) patients. Among the 15 patients with bronchial cutoff and bronchial wall thickening on CT, 11 lung cancer patients had bronchial wall invasion on pathology. Among the seven patients with normal bronchial wall on CT, five lung cancer patients had no bronchial wall invasion on pathology. Among the five lung cancer patients with air bronchogram, one had bronchial wall invasion, and one showed bronchial epithelial hyperplasia. Among the three patients with bronchus distributed at the periphery of the lesion, one lung cancer patient had bronchial wall invasion on pathology.
Conclusion: MSCT can evaluate accurately the bronchial changes of peripheral solitary pulmonary lesions, and may be helpful for diagnosis and differential diagnosis of solitary pulmonary lesions.