Comparative analysis of shape features and histopathology in pulmonary ground-glass nodules

LU Tao; CHEN Yunbin; LIU Xiangyi

Abstract：Objective This study aimed to compare the high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) image features of patients with pulmonary ground-glass nodules (GGNs) with histopathology.Methods Thirty-nine pulmonary GGNs resected were evaluated and pathologically classified as preinvasive lesions (atypical adenomatous hyperplasia (AAH) and adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS);n =14),minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA;n =24),invasive adenocarcinoma (IAC;n =40).The lesion size,volume,solid component ratio on CT images were compared with pathological results to identify the features that helped distinguish between invasive group (IAC) and non-or minimally-invasive group (preinvasive lesions and MIA).Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were performed to identify factors that could help define invasive adenocarcinomas.Results There were statistically significant differences in lesion volume and solid component ratio between preinvasive lesions and IAC (P ＜ 0.05).There were statistically significant differences in lesion volume between MIA and IAC (P ＜ 0.05).In ROC curve analyses,the sensitivity and specificity of leison size (cutoff,14.5 mm) to define invasive adenocarcinomas were 89.5％ and 40.0％,respectively,and those for lesion volume (cutoff,1.45 cm3) were 94.7％ and 55.0％,respectively,for solid component ratio of lesion (cutoff,35％) were 73.7％ and 45.0％,respectively.Conclusion Pulmonary nodules of grinding glass HRCT manifestations,nodule size,volume,and solid composition have certain correlation with the pathological results and analysis of the imaging performance helps to identify preoperative pulmonary grinding glass nodule diagnosis.