What factors delay lung cancer diagnosis on CT CAC?

Wednesday, November 29 | 3:50 p.m.-4:00 p.m. | SSM04-06 | Room S504AB

CT for coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring is susceptible to detection and interpretation errors that may delay the diagnosis of lung cancer, according to researchers from South Korea.

Institutions are performing CT CAC scoring increasingly often, but a sizeable number of malignant lesions in the lungs are still being missed, Dr. Young Joo Suh told AuntMinnie.com.

The group from Yonsei University in Seoul retrospectively examined the cases of 156 patients whose CT CAC score eventually led to a diagnosis of lung cancer. Among the 156 cases, 59 were delayed in their diagnosis of lung cancer. (A delayed diagnosis was defined as more than one year between the time of CT CAC scoring and the diagnosis of lung cancer.)

The most common reason was a missed lesion on CT CAC scoring, at 49%. The misinterpretation of malignant lesions as benign also caused a diagnostic delay in nearly 17% of patients.

"These errors were related to stage shifts [in lesions] from the time of the initial CT to the time of final histopathologic diagnosis," Suh said. "Appropriate follow-up or management should be emphasized when large solid nodules are detected on CAC CT of old-age patients."