Observational studyChest2015
Management of Pulmonary Nodules by Community Pulmonologists: A Multicenter Observational Study.
Observational study in Chest, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 91 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
91 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 174 citations in OpenAlex.
- Solitary pulmonary nodule malignancy predictive models applicable to routine clinical practice: a systematic review.Systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- A novel, accurate, and non-invasive liquid biopsy test to measure cellular immune responses as a tool to diagnose early-stage lung cancer: a clinical trials study.Respiratory research · 2023Trial
- Impact of a bronchial genomic classifier on clinical decision making in patients undergoing diagnostic evaluation for lung cancer.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2016Trial
- Resource Utilization and Timeliness of Care in Patients With Incidentally Detected Lung Nodules.CHEST pulmonary · 2026Article
- Are respiratory physicians adherent to guidelines when evaluating pulmonary nodules?Internal medicine journal · 2026Article
- Is This Calculator Broken?: Comparative Performance of Lung Nodule Risk Assessment Calculators in a High-Prevalence Cohort.CHEST pulmonary · 2026Article
- Validation of a blood-based autoantibody test to assess lung cancer risk in 4-30 mm pulmonary nodules: a retrospective pooled analysis of four cohort studies.Future oncology (London, England) · 2026Article
- Clinicians' cancer risk assessment among patients with pulmonary nodules: a qualitative study.Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2026Article
- Clinical symptoms and prognosis of patients with pulmonary nodules: a real-world cohort study.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Article
- Cost-effectiveness analysis of artificial intelligence-assisted risk stratification of indeterminate pulmonary nodules.PloS one · 2026Article
- Evaluating the diagnostic performance of artificial intelligence-assisted decision-making software for pulmonary nodules in a resource-limited setting.Journal of clinical imaging science · 2026Article
- A multivariate cell-based liquid biopsy for lung nodule risk stratification: Analytical validation and early clinical evaluation.The journal of liquid biopsy · 2025Article
- Proportion and related factors of depression and anxiety for patients with pulmonary nodules in China: a outpatient-based cross-sectional study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Management and Outcomes of Pulmonary Nodules in a Real-World Setting.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Radiomic 'Stress Test': exploration of a deep learning radiomic model in a high-risk prospective lung nodule cohort.BMJ open respiratory research · 2025Article
- Value of serum LncRNA KIF9-AS1 combined with CT signs in the diagnosis of benign and malignant early pulmonary nodules and its correlation with prognosis.Journal of cardiothoracic surgery · 2025Article
- Development of a Pulmonary Nodule Service and Clinical Pathway: A Pragmatic Approach Addressing an Unmet Need.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Impact of surgery versus follow-up on psychological distress in patients with indeterminate pulmonary nodules: A prospective observational study.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2025Observational
- Validation of a High-Specificity Blood Autoantibody Test to Detect Lung Cancer in Pulmonary Nodules.CHEST pulmonary · 2025Article
31 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPulmonary nodules (PNs) are a common reason for referral to pulmonologists. The majority of data for the evaluation and management of PNs is derived from studies performed in academic medical centers. Little is known about the prevalence and diagnosis of PNs, the use of diagnostic testing, or the management of PNs by community pulmonologists.
methodsThis multicenter observational record review evaluated 377 patients aged 40 to 89 years referred to 18 geographically diverse community pulmonary practices for intermediate PNs (8-20 mm). Study measures included the prevalence of malignancy, procedure/test use, and nodule pretest probability of malignancy as calculated by two previously validated models. The relationship between calculated pretest probability and management decisions was evaluated.
resultsThe prevalence of malignancy was 25% (n = 94). Nearly one-half of the patients (46%, n = 175) had surveillance alone. Biopsy was performed on 125 patients (33.2%). A total of 77 patients (20.4%) underwent surgery, of whom 35% (n = 27) had benign disease. PET scan was used in 141 patients (37%). The false-positive rate for PET scan was 39% (95% CI, 27.1%-52.1%). Pretest probability of malignancy calculations showed that 9.5% (n = 36) were at a low risk, 79.6% (n = 300) were at a moderate risk, and 10.8% (n = 41) were at a high risk of malignancy. The rate of surgical resection was similar among the three groups (17%, 21%, 17%, respectively; P = .69).
conclusionsA substantial fraction of intermediate-sized nodules referred to pulmonologists ultimately prove to be lung cancer. Despite advances in imaging and nonsurgical biopsy techniques, invasive sampling of low-risk nodules and surgical resection of benign nodules remain common, suggesting a lack of adherence to guidelines for the management of PNs.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.