MissHolly Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 I'm 72 years old. I had RSV pneumonia in Nov. Recovered well. Follow up chest x-ray in December said my lungs recovered well. I did have ground glass opacities. On Tuesday I went to ER for an ear infection. They did a chest x-ray then decided to do a CT scan. The results have me terrified. I have no SOB, no symptoms what-so-ever. The CT scan says suggestive of multifocal pneumonia, cannot rule out malignancy. What scares me is the irregulary-shaped nodules. Can they ever be non-cancerous? I have an appt with a pulminary dr. on March 6th, but in the meantime, I am driving myself crazy. There are multiple bilateral irregularly-shaped lung nodules. Several lung nodules demonstrate central cavitary changes. Example nodule within the medial superior segment of the right lower lobe measures 3.1 x 2.6 cm with central cavitation. Additional 4 x 2.6 cm irregularly-shaped nodule is present within the anterior left upper lobe. This lesion is without cavitary changes. No pleural effusions. No pneumothorax. Heart size is normal. No pericardial effusion. There are shotty mediastinal and bilateral hilar lymph nodes, likely reactive. Liver density is decreased. There are bilateral simple appearing renal cysts. Any input - good or bad - would be appreciated. Livin Life 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LouT Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 Miss Holly, The quick answer to your question is: "Yes, you can have nodules that are not a malignancy". Welcome to our forums. I can certainly understand being fearful when you hear that you have nodules in your lungs. First, let's talk about nodules, the grea4t majority of pulmonary nodules found are benign. They can be caused by past illness, allergies, and other causes. If you'd like to know more about these nodules I found this article titled "Pulmonary Nodules" by Cleveland Clinic offers a good amount of information and it can be found here. Now, that doesn't mean that a nodule may not be malignant, but the diagnostic and testing to determine that could involve such tests as a PET Scan (measures the glucose take up of cancer cells), and the gold standard for diagnosis; a tissue biopsy. In many cases the doctors may decide to monitor the nodules to see what happens to them over time. There are cases of some nodules appearing between scans as well as diminishing, so the usual time to monitor is often every 3 months. If the doctors feel that there is more of a reason to be concerned they could shorten the time between scans. Please keep us updated and ask any other questions you may have. Lou Livin Life and Tom Galli 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BridgetO Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 Hi Miss Holly and welcome. Is March 6 really the date of your pulmonologist appointment? Or is that a misstatement? If it's really March 6, I'd push for an earlier appointment. As Lou said, most nodules are benign. But if it is cancer, the earlier it's identified and treatment is started, the better the outlook. Bridget Livin Life, LouT and Tom Galli 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Livin Life Posted August 2 Share Posted August 2 Just want to welcome you, Miss Holly and send support. I agree on all that was said on nodules often not being malignant, small chance they can be, getting a sooner appointment and unless your pulm is very confident it's infection or inflammatory related maybe push for biopsy to save you all the anxiety of serial scanning.... They do that though it still has to be justified... LouT 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edivebuddy Posted August 2 Share Posted August 2 Your CT report sounds like nearly any other post viral pneumonia CT report. Cavitary lesions are part of the healing process and unfortunately it can take a very long time to resolve. 90% of incidental lung lesion findings are benign. I'm not quite sure what that number is for post viral pneumonia, but it's sure to be closer to 100%. That said, because of the serious nature of lung cancer, March is way way to long to wait. I think they should have scheduled a 3 month or sooner follow-up CT . The fact that the radiologist suggested pneumonia is telling. Pneumonia is irregularly shaped on a CT. It often appears as ground glass opacities. but as they said malignancy can't be ruled out. Hence the need for follow-up and it's Even written in their guidelines for incidental findings Talk to your PCP about getting a follow up sooner than March. I Livin Life and LouT 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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