抄録
Background Chest radiographic screening is a commonly used conventional method for the screening of lung and mediastinal tumors. However, majority of the lung cancer detected by chest radiography are those that have already progressed to the advanced stage. Recent studies have shown that low-dose spiral computed tomography (LDCT) is effective for the early stage detection of lung cancer. On the other hand, usability of early stage detection of mediastinal tumors on chest LDCT is still obscure because of the rarity of these tumors. The purpose of this study was to reappraise and to clarify the usefulness of LDCT in the early detection of lung and mediastinal tumors.
Methods Among the individuals who underwent medical check-ups from April 2010 to March 2016 at our institution, 2,395 people who also underwent LDCT were enrolled in this study. The presence of lung and mediastinal tumors was investigated in these individuals.
Results Ten cases of lung and mediastinal tumors were detected on LDCT. Seven of these 10 cases were detected on LDCT only, and no abnormal opacity was observed on chest radiography. Five cases were finally diagnosed as malignant (4 lung cancer and 1 mediastinal sarcoma). Among the 5 malignant cases, 4 were also detected on LDCT only, and were successfully resected, and no tumor recurrence has been observed.
Conclusion These results suggest that screening with LDCT is more useful than screening with radiography. LDCT contributes to the early detection of lung and mediastinal tumors.
