The thoracic surgery specialist that also reviews my CT scans (he is out of state) has a limit of 5.0 cm before he recommends and conducts surgery. He does not go by the radiologist report and reads and interprets the scan on his own. I have also seen that my local cardiologist and radiologists consistently read the same scans and show about 3 mm less than the specialist. So in my case I have seen that reading the scan is not that precise and can depend on who is reading it.