[Roentgeno-pathologic studies of peripheral pulmonary carcinoma]

122 patients with solitary pulmonary nodular lesions less than 3 cm in diameter admitted to our hospital from 1974 to 1985 are analysed. All lesions were negative by sputum exfoliative cytology and fiberoptic bronchoscopy. As lung cancer could not be excluded, exploratory thoracotomy was performed. They were diagnosed as primary peripheral pulmonary carcinoma by pathology. Of the 122 patients, 45 had adenocarcinoma, 42 squamous-cell carcinoma, 19 bronchiolo-alveolar carcinoma, 9 small cell carcinoma, 4 large cell carcinoma and 3 mixed type carcinoma. Pathologic specimen was compared with X-ray chest films to study the pathologic basis of radiologic manifestations. As there were different histologic types in solitary peripheral pulmonary carcinoma, their pathologic processes were different. Therefore, the radiologic features were also different. Different points of the radiologic manifestations might be helpful to differentiate different histologic types of pulmonary carcinoma and increase the diagnostic accuracy for early pulmonary carcinoma.