[Three-dimensional CT imaging of the small lung cancer--a trial using an inflated fixed lung specimen]

In order to examine clinical usefulness of three-dimensional (3D) imaging of solitary pulmonary nodules froms serial thin-section CT images, 3D reconstruction of a small peripheral lung adenocarcinoma was performed using the inflated fixed lung specimen resected surgically. The left upper lobe was fixed and air-dried by Heitzman's method, and was scanned contiguously 20 times at a section thickness of 2 mm and a section interval of 2 mm. Bronchi, pulmonary vessels and the tumor presented on the CT images were input to a 3D reconstruction personal computer system, and then 3D images were obtained. The reconstructed 3D images included various tomographic images of bronchi and pulmonary vessels. It is expected that this method would be one of the most useful imaging techniques for the differential diagnosis of solitary pulmonary nodules.