The solitary pulmonary nodule: a recent military experience

During a 5-year period from 1983 to 1987, a total of 226 thoracotomies were performed at David Grant USAF Medical Center. Within this group, 62 patients (27%) had resection of a solitary pulmonary nodule. Fifty percent of the resected nodules were subsequently proven malignant, with 27 of 62 (43%) having a primary lung carcinoma. From 1958 to 1963, the Veterans Administration Armed Forces Cooperative Study evaluated a total of 1,134 patients with asymptomatic solitary pulmonary nodules. The data generated from that report has become the standard within the literature. We compared our recent 5-year experience to that data. The primary difference found in our series was an increase in solitary pulmonary nodules in our female population.