[Pleural thickening associated with solitary pulmonary nodule: evaluation with thin-slice CT]

Thin-slice CT was performed in 39 cases with a solitary pulmonary nodule abutting on the chest wall. Fifteen cases had bronchogenic carcinomas and the other 24 had benign non-neoplastic pulmonary nodules. CT findings were evaluated retrospectively paying special attention to the angle of the lesion with adjacent pleura, the homogeneity of the boundary between the lesion and the pleura, the configuration of the pleural thickening (broad or not, symmetric or not, tapering or not) and the visibility of the extrapleural fat plane. The broad, symmetric and tapering pleural thickening was seen in one of the 15 cases with a bronchogenic carcinoma and in 11 of the 24 cases with a benign non-neoplastic pulmonary nodule. Our result showed that the broad, symmetric and tapering pleural thickening might be indicative of benign pulmonary nodule. The authors concluded that thin-slice CT might be useful in the evaluation of the benignity of a solitary pulmonary nodule abutting on the chest wall.