[Complex radiation diagnosis of solitary metastases in the lung]

Analyzing about 1000 cases of metastatic lesion of the lung indicated that the incidence of metastases was 12.9% (117 patients). Computed tomography (CT) enhances the informative value of X-ray studies in solitary metastases. CT detects tumor nodes invisible on routine X-ray films due to their small sizes (up to 1.0 cm) or location in the areas undetectable by other studies (behind the first rib, clavicle, in the posterior phrenicocostal sinus, behind the heart shadow). The sensitivity and accuracy of CT as to small solitary metastatic lymphs in the lung were 97.4 and 89.4%, respectively, which were higher than those of X-ray study (60.0 and 55.3%) and longitudinal tomography (80.0 and 68.0%) at a virtually equal specificity in the three types of studies. The high diagnostic value of a complex radiation study, including CT, and its simplicity make it possible to identify solitary metastatic formations, which is of great importance in choosing adequate but less aggressive treatment.