Clustered pulmonary nodules - Highly suggestive of benign disease

Thirty-one adult patients with a cluster of small, noncalcified, pulmonary nodules identified on chest computed tomography (CT) examinations were stud ied retrospectively. Pathology revealed an infectious/inflammatory etiology in all cases in which a surgical resection of the involved lung was perfor med. None of the patients in our study group showed evidence of malignancy in the region of a cluster of pulmonary nodules over the follow-up period. The authors conclude that an isolated cluster of small pulmonary nodules is strongly suggestive of benign disease. Although exceptions may rarely occu r, most cases represent incidental infectious or inflammatory disease.