What should I do if I find lung nodules during a physical examination? Don’t be afraid of “grinding”

Work is tiring in itself, and the company finally gave them an annual physical examination. But when they got the report, they found nodules in their lungs. Of course they were shocked.

With the upgrade of CT, more and more lung nodules are found. Data shows that 1 in every 500 people who undergo chest examinations is found to have lung nodules. Among them, 90% of people have no physical abnormalities.

What is a lung nodule? It refers to a nodular shadow in the lung parenchyma that does not belong to normal lung tissue, usually with a diameter of less than 3 cm. A lung nodule can be a single one or multiple. However, more than 80%-90% of lung nodules are benign, so there is no need to worry too much.

Among them, the most feared are ground-glass nodules in the lungs. Ground-glass nodules in the lungs refer to the presence of slightly increased density, cloudy, thin shadows or round nodules found during chest CT scans. They look like frosted glass, so they are named "ground-glass nodules" by talented medical scientists.

Ground-glass nodules in the lungs look ugly and may be precancerous lesions or malignant tumors to a certain extent, but they may also be benign lesions, such as focal fibrosis, inflammation, or hemorrhage.

Among the causes of cancer death in my country, lung cancer ranks first in mortality. It is understandable that people are afraid when they find ground glass nodules.

However, even for tumor-like ground glass nodules, the process of change is quite long, generally 10 to 15 years, or even longer. This gives us plenty of time for follow-up and intervention.

Current CT technology can achieve relatively accurate staging of ground-glass nodules in the lungs, and can even be basically consistent with the pathological diagnosis results.

Therefore, medical experts suggest that there is no need to be afraid of "grinding", and regular check-ups are the key.

What is really worth being vigilant about is the high-risk nodules for lung cancer, which are nodules that can turn into lung cancer. The risk level is greatly increased when there are multiple risk factors such as a long-term smoking history, a family history of lung cancer, and clear malignant tumors in other organs of the body. In addition, when the diameter of the nodule is greater than or equal to 1.5 cm, or the diameter is between 0.8-1.5 cm but shows malignant signs such as lobulation and burrs, and the diameter of some solid nodules is greater than 0.8 cm, it is especially necessary to be vigilant.

So, what should you do if you have discovered that you have lung nodules?

First of all, it is important to make it clear that lung nodules are not equivalent to lung cancer or early lung cancer. There is no need to be overly anxious, and excessive panic is not advisable.

If lung nodules are found, you should bring detailed imaging data and medical history to the hospital for a detailed physical examination, CT scan, fiberoptic bronchoscopy, etc.

If it is an inflammatory nodule, you can take antibiotics orally and then recheck after a period of time. Pneumonia or atypical pneumonia also manifests as lung nodules. After a short period of oral antibiotic treatment, the lung nodules disappear or become significantly smaller. Antibiotic treatment is particularly important when ground glass nodules are first discovered.

If the nodule is still small or the density is very light, then close follow-up is enough. Close follow-up is like a police officer staring at a suspect. Only through long-term observation can we finally determine whether the suspect is good or bad. The CT scan is the police, and the lung nodule is the suspect.

The method of judgment is to do another CT scan within a period of time, compare it with the previous CT scan, and determine whether there are changes in size, density, location, etc. Benign nodules generally do not change in long-term follow-up, while malignant nodules often grow significantly in a short period of time.

If it is a malignant tumor, don't worry too much, you can choose surgical resection. Surgical resection is the best cure for malignant pulmonary nodules.

Once an early-stage tumor is discovered and surgically removed, the survival rate is close to 100%. Early detection means early treatment. It can be seen how important it is for workers to add a CT scan to their annual physical examination.

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