Frequently Asked Questions in the Interpretation of Preoperative and Postoperative Chest CT Scans Related to Lung Cancer Imaging

With the advent of multidetector-row CT, lung cancer imaging is much more promising than before. However, the effectiveness of multidetector-row CT in making an initial diagnosis, staging, and evaluating post-treatment changes of lung cancer still remains to be proved. Fast imaging along with volumetric data set and attendant multi-planar imaging provide much more details on the anatomic changes and pathology associated with lung cancer. However, with images showing anatomic and pathologic changes only, radiologists confront with several questions the answers of which may help evaluate lung cancer more thoroughly. The frequent questions that I have in dally practice of chest CT interpretation are as follows.