Year: 2021
Type: conference-abstract
Abstract: Rationale: Clinical evaluation, risk stratification and systematic workup is imperative for providing appropriate care of lung nodules, whether found incidentally or through lung cancer screening modalities.Organizing care for these patients in a system wide approach can be challenging.Comprehensive evaluation in a dedicated pulmonary nodule clinic (PNC) may help streamline further diagnostic workup and clinical care, while providing appropriate nodule risk assessment.There is a lack of information in the literature outlining patient characteristics in lung nodule clinics, specifically female patients.We present a descriptive analysis of a historical cohort, consisting of female veterans enrolled in our institution.Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of all female patients referred to PNC from 2013 to July of 2020, describing key clinical characteristics of the cohort and the nodules.Patients were referred through provider consultation request or through radiology alerts.We evaluated multiple variables including initial imaging modality, patient comorbidities, tobacco use, clinical workup, biopsy type and nodule diagnosis.Results: A total of seventy-seven female veterans were enrolled in PNC.The average age was 58.The majority of veterans were referred for incidentally found nodules, were patients who smoked currently or had smoked in the past, had a body mass index >30kg/m 2 , and had imaging evidence of smoking related lung injury.More than 120 discrete nodules were evaluated, with additional patients having either innumerable nodules or imaging findings not qualifying as nodules.The majority of nodules were solid, followed by semi-solid, ground glass or mixed.A third of the population had a solitary nodule, with the majority characterized as solid, followed by ground glass or mixed.The most common diagnosis was inflammatory or infectious followed by malignant.The majority have continued follow up in PNC with serial imaging recommendations.Conclusions: Our investigation into female veterans represents an underreported analysis of a heterogeneous population.Appropriately stratifying lung nodule risk for lung cancer is paramount in this population, however a broad differential is required to ensure appropriate care.Our population demonstrated various comorbidities, as well as a wide variety of disease processes broadly categorized as lung nodules, with the majority ultimately negative for malignancy.As screening recommendations change more patients will qualify for radiographic studies.Thus, organized care and management will be crucial to ensure timely workup and diagnosis of these patients referred to pulmonary nodule clinic.
Language: English
Subfield: Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4229935074