Abstract

YU TSENG, Fulin; JIMENEZ- CASTRO, Marlene  and  VALVERDE- ROBERT, Raúl. Causas más frecuentes de nódulo pulmonar solitario y su relación con el cáncer pulmonar. Acta méd. costarric [online]. 2006, vol.48, n.2, pp.84-87. ISSN 0001-6002.

Justification and objectives: Lung cancer has increased in the last few years. It ranks ninth in cancer incidence in Latin America, equally affecting men an women. Lung carcinoma is the third most common cause of death among men and the sixth cause of death among women in Costa Rica. The objective of this study was to determine the rate for lung cancer to appear as a solitary pulmonary nodule according to the records of the Chest Surgery Service of the Rafael Angel Calderón Guardia Hospital in San José. Methods: 49 patients were included in the study. Some were admitted with the diagnosis of solitary pulmonary nodule, others had another illness and during their hospital stay a solitary pulmonary nodule was also found. This study was conducted from january 1996 to december 2001. The data were gathered form the patients charts Result: From the 49 patients with this diagnosis, 23 were men (47%) and 26 were women (53%). The most frequently occurring age groups was equal or over 50 years. The tumors were most frequently benign. The predominant histological, report of bening pathology was histoplasmoma and the prevailing magnant pathology was that of carcinoid tumors followed by lung cancer and linfoma. Conclusion: The results obtained in this groups show that a solitary pulmonary nodule is frequently benign with a low malignant percentage. There is a low incidence of lung cancer, presenting as a solitary pulmonary nodule.

Keywords : solitary pulmonary nodule; histoplasmoma; carcinoide tumor; histology.