4: Thoracic and cardiothoracic disorders Flashcards
What laboratory workup should be performed for a solitary pulmonary nodule?
Fungal serum titers, and sputum acid-fast bacilli stain.
Also skin tests: histoplasmosis and PPD
What is the major complication of needle biopsy of a lung nodule/mass?
Pneumothorax
What radiographic features of a coin lesion of the lung favor malignancy in terms of:
- Size?
- Evolution?
- Calcifications?
- CT density?
Size: >3 cm
Evolution: increased in size, with doubling time from 35-280 days
Calcifications: usually noncalcified (occassionally eccentrically calcified)
Density: Low CT density (<110 HU) (Benign likely more dense, >164 HU)
Other than malignancy, what can present as a lung nodule/mass on CXR?
Infectious granuloma (actinomycosis, histoplasmosis, coccidiomyocosis, blastomycosis, cryptococcis, aspergilloma)
Hamartoma
Round atelectasis
What do you think of with a lung nodule associated with a dental abscess or sinus involving the chest wall?
Actinomycosis (actually a bacteria despite the name, treat with penicillin)
What do you think of for a lung nodule with concentric or homogenous calcification?
Histoplasmosis
What do you think of for a lung nodule with a thin-walled cavity and air-fluid level?
Coccidiomycosis
What do you think of for a lung nodule associated with chronic skin ulcers?
Blastomycosis
What do you think of a lung nodule resulting from superinfection in an immunocompromised patient?
Cryptococcosis
What do you think of a lung nodule with an “air-crescent” sign?
Aspergillosis (fungus ball surrounded by air)
What do you think of a lung nodule with a well-defined border with slight lobulations?
Hamartoma
What do you think of a lung nodule with a comet-tail vessel pattern adjacent to thickened pleura?
Round atelectasis
What are endemic areas for blastomycosis, coccidiomycosis, and histoplasmosis?
Histoplasmosis and blastomycosis: Midwest US
Coccidiomycosis: Western US
What invasive tests can be used to assess pulmonary nodules/masses?
Needle biopsy, bronchoscopy, mediastinoscopy
How do small cell and non-small cell lung cancers differ in their pattern of spread? Treatment?
Small cell: systemic disease, early metastasis, usually chemotherapy (unless caught very early)
Non-small cell: local spread through nodes before mets, usually primarily surgery if caught early (stage I or II), chemo and radiation as adjunct
What are the types of non-small cell lung cancer?
Adenocardinoma
Epidermoid (squamous cell) carcinoma
What is the therapy for a stage I non-small cell lung cancer not involving major bronchi?
Lobectomy
What is the therapy for a stage I non-small cell lung cancer involving the origin of a lobar bronchus?
Pneumonectomy of sleeve lobectomy (remove part of main bronchus with lobectomy and re-anastomose remaining lobe(s) to more proximal bronchus)
What defines stage I lung cancer? Stage II? III? IV?
Stage I: Local only, no lymph node involvement
Stage II: Involvement of intrapulmonary and/or ipsilateral hilar nodes only
Stage III: Involvement of nodes beyond ipsilateral hilar nodes (mediastinal, supraclavicular, contralateral), or lymph nodes + chest wall involvement
Stage IV: Distant mets
How does therapy for non-small cell lung cancer vary by stage?
Stage I and II: Primarily surgery
Stage III and IV: Chemo and radiation
What are the differences in technical difficulty and perioperative mortality between pneumonectomy and sleeve lobectomy?
Pneumonectomy: Technically easier, but actually higher perioperative mortality
Sleeve lobectomy: Technically more difficult, but lower perioperative mortality. (Also better preserves pulmonary function)
What is a Pancoast tumor?
Tumor involving the superior sulcus of the lung (also known as superior sulcus tumor), the extreme apex of the lung near the sublavian artery?
What structures can a Pancoast tumor invade?
Chest wall, brachial plexus, sublavian artery, sympathetic ganglia
What do you think of a patient with haziness at the lung apex on CXR and ipsilateral Horner syndrome?
Pancoast tumor involving sympathetic chain
What is treatment for a Pancoast tumor without metastasis?
Two phases: Radiation/chemo, then surgery
What is the most likely cause of hemoptysis + atelectasis in an otherwise healthy young person?
Bronchial adenoma leading to an obstructed bronchus
What are the two main types of bronchial adenoma?
Carcinoid tumor and adenocystic carcinomas
What are potential sequelae of bronchial adenomas?
Either type can lead to bronchial obstruction and atelectasis
Carcinoid tumors: carcinoid syndrome, occasionally widespread metastasis
Adenocystic carcinomas: local invasion
How is definitive diagnosis of a bronchial adenoma performed?
Bronchoscopy and biopsy
What is a risk of bronchoscopic biopsy of a bronchial adenoma?
Significant bleeding
What is treatment for a carcinoid tumor of the lung?
Complete tumor resection with mediastinal lymph node sampling or dissection
What is the workup for pleural effusion in an older person that is not related to CHF?
Thoracocentesis and pleural biopsy, with culture and examination for malignant cells in the pleural fluid
Pleural effusion in an older patient is what until proven otherwise?
Cancer (although most commonly related to CHF)
What can cause a pleural effusion in an older patient?
CHF, lung cancer, mesothelioma, infection
What is the treatment for early stage mesothelioma?
Extrapleural pneumonectomy (resect entire lung and both pleura)
+ Radiation + Chemo
(But mesothelioma usually discovered late, non-surgical, very poor prognosis)
What is the origin of spontaneous pneumothorax?
Breakdown of septae at the lung apex, allowing for formation of apical blebs that rupture and allow air into the pleural space