Chest radiograph interpretation and lung cancer: experience at Madigan Army Medical Center

A retrospective review was performed of previous chest radiographs obtained for a group of patients with newly diagnosed lung cancer. In 11 of 49 subselected cases, the lesion was visible on previous chest radiographs (22% missed findings or misinterpretations). This false negative rate was found to be within the range of experience reported by other medical centers. Additionally, patients with abnormalities suggestive of lung cancer were followed prospectively for diagnosis. The percent yield of neoplastic disease was calculated from each category of radiographic abnormality. The overall yield for bronchogenic carcinoma was 20 of 83 cases (24%).