Preface
With the development of thoracic imaging technology, there have recently been increasingly more novel imaging tools available for use in the management of thoracic diseases. With advancements in bronchoscopic techniques, physicians can precisely diagnose and stage diseases using endobronchial ultrasonography and electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy. For patients with advanced lung malignancies or those with comorbidities and high surgical risk who are unable to undergo surgery, image-guided management, including radiofrequency ablation, cryotherapy, and microwave ablation, can be considered as alternative and effective treatment modalities. With advancements in low-dose computed tomography screening for lung cancer, small lung nodules have been increasingly detected. Minimally invasive surgery for these small, impalpable nodules is challenging for physicians, and preoperative image-guided localization is mandatory for minimally invasive thoracoscopic resection.
In the era of precision medicine, pulmonologists and thoracic surgeons should be familiar with these novel imaging diagnostic tools as well as image-guided management. This focused issue aims to provide a recent update on the image-guided diagnosis and management of lung disease, as well as on image-guided preoperative localization methods.
