Solitary pure ground-glass nodules measuring 5 mm or less: current imaging management, question and suggestion

With great interest we read the article by Dr. Kakinuma et al. (1) entitled ‘solitary pure ground-glass nodules 5 mm or smaller: frequency of growth’, which was published on Radiology on Apr 23, 2015. During consecutive 46 months of lung cancer screening with computer tomography (CT), 439 solitary pure ground-glass nodules (SPGGNs) 5 mm or smaller were identified at baseline screening among 7,249 participants. Through no less than 5-year CT follow-up, they concluded that approximately 10% (45 of 439) of SPGGNs 5 mm or smaller detected at CT screening would grow. Approximately 1% (four of 439) of these SPGGNs 5 mm or smaller would develop into invasive adenocarcinomas or minimally invasive adenocarcinomas. They also recommended that SPGGNs 5 mm or smaller should be rescanned 3.5 years later to look for development of a solid component. They provide an evidence-based follow-up time point for patient care.