DERIVATION FOR RELATING CALCIFICATION AND SIZE IN SMALL PULMONARY NODULES

Pulmonary nodules less than 10 mm in length are often detected on comp uted tomography (CT) scans after the examination is completed. No furt her imaging may be possible and it would be useful to determine whethe r the nodule is sufficiently calcified to be considered benign. We wan ted to use the relationship between the true and apparent nodule densi ty on 10-mm CT sections to determine the true density of the nodule. A n understanding of the partial volume effect on 10-mm CT images of sma ll pulmonary nodules allowed us to identify accurately those which wer e diffusely calcified without having to resort to obtaining additional 1-mm CT sections. (C) Elsevier Science Inc., 1998.