Potential Role of Intrapulmonary Concomitant Lesions in Differentiating Non-Neoplastic and Neoplastic Ground Glass Nodules

Purpose: To determine the value of intrapulmonary concomitant lesions in differentiating non-neoplastic and neoplastic ground-glass Patients and Methods: From January 2014 to March 2022, 395 and 583 patients with confirmed non-neoplastic and neoplastic GGNs were retrospectively enrolled. Their clinical and chest CT data were evaluated. The CT features of target GGNs and intrapulmonary concomitant lesions in these two groups were analyzed and compared, and the role of intrapulmonary concomitant lesions in improving differentiation was evaluated. Results: The intrapulmonary concomitant lesions were more common in patients with non-neoplastic GGNs than in those with neoplastic ones (87.88% vs 82.18%, P = 0.015). Specifically, patients with non-neoplastic GGNs had a higher incidence of multiple solid nodules (SNs), patchy ground-glass opacity/consolidation, and fibrosis/calcification in any lung fields (each P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis indicated that patients < 44 years old, diameter < 7.35 mm, irregular shape, and coarse margin or ill-defined boundary for target GGN, pleural thickening, and concomitant SNs in the same lobe and fibrosis or calcification in any lung field were independent indicators for predicting non-neoplastic GGNs. The AUC of the model for predicting non-neoplastic GGNs increased from 0.894 to 0.926 (sensitivity, 83.10%; specificity, 87.10%) after including the concomitant lesions in the patients' clinical characteristics and CT features of target GGNs (P < 0.0001). Conclusion: Besides the patients' clinical characteristics and CT features of target GGNs, the concomitant multiple SNs in the same lobe and fibrosis/calcification in any lung field should be considered in further differentiating non-neoplastic and neoplastic GGNs.

Automated summary

The study found that intrapulmonary concomitant lesions were more common in patients with non-neoplastic ground-glass nodules (GGNs) compared to those with neoplastic GGNs. Multiple solid nodules, patchy ground-glass opacity/consolidation, and fibrosis/calcification were more frequently observed in non-neoplastic GGNs. Including the presence of concomitant lesions in the predictive model improved the accuracy of differentiating non-neoplastic and neoplastic GGNs.