What is ground glass on a lung CT scan?

Posted by chris8515 @chris8515, Dec 10, 2018

i was told by mayo its nothing serious, any other opinions?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Lung Health Support Group.

@merpreb

@bump- Good morning and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Are you a candidate for Zephyr valves?

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I am going through testing today

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@bump

I am going through testing today

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@bump- When you have a chance will you tell this group more about yourself and what brings you to being tested? Best of luck.

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@bump

I am going through testing today

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@bump- How did your testing go? Do you have any results as yet?

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@merpreb

@chris, welcome to Mayo Connect. I'd like to ask you a few questions. Who told you that ground glass isn't dangerous? Have you recently been diagnosed with lung cancer? Do you have symptoms at all?
Ground glass is an appearance on a CT of a cluster of lung cells that have changed. It can be, and often is, a precusor to lung cancer. Usually adenocarcinoma of the lung. I do not know if this type of cell change shows up anywhere else.

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Hi I was recently diagnosed via CT of "nonspecific growing glass opacity lis seen involving the posterior segment of right upper lobe, abutting the major fissure this is non specific and may represent a resolving infiltrate ...follow up 6 months ....SO WHAT SHOULD I DO > DO I DO I DO ANYTHING? IS GGO SERIOUS what us sub centimeter mean? sorry but this all new to me. im 47 yr old male had covid year ago, now I have reynauds phenomenon and auto immune (which they are still testing for) now there goo pops up..

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@godfather2

Hi I was recently diagnosed via CT of "nonspecific growing glass opacity lis seen involving the posterior segment of right upper lobe, abutting the major fissure this is non specific and may represent a resolving infiltrate ...follow up 6 months ....SO WHAT SHOULD I DO > DO I DO I DO ANYTHING? IS GGO SERIOUS what us sub centimeter mean? sorry but this all new to me. im 47 yr old male had covid year ago, now I have reynauds phenomenon and auto immune (which they are still testing for) now there goo pops up..

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@godfather2- Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. So many terms to be learned involving the lungs! When I first had lung cancer medical terms were daunting. I don't know why the medical field makes it so difficult to understand what is going on.
Sub centimeter means less than a centimeter (less than .5 inches.) So it's very small. Waiting 6 months indicates that your doctor doesn't think that there will be a lot of changes to see within a 6 month period, so if it's going to grow at all it will be very slow. This is very good.

I imagine that you were having difficulties with breathing and sought help. Had you had any lung problems prior to Covid-19? Also when you have a chance to be vaccinated jump at it. People are finding that it helps with any long-term covid effects.

Ground-glass opacities are abnormal findings on a CT scan of the lungs. They are hazy areas that do not obscure the underlying structures of the lung, such as the bronchial airways and blood vessels. They are found in people with various lung conditions and have been seen in people with COVID-19.

Raynaud's disease causes some areas of your body — such as your fingers and toes — to feel numb and cold in response to cold temperatures or stress. In Raynaud's disease, smaller arteries that supply blood to your skin become narrow, limiting blood flow to affected areas (vasospasm).
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/raynauds-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20363571
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/raynauds-disease/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20363572
I am going to ask @johnbishop to help here. He is a fellow mentor and will know more about Raynaud's phenomenon.

Have you asked your doctor any of these questions?

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@godfather2

Hi I was recently diagnosed via CT of "nonspecific growing glass opacity lis seen involving the posterior segment of right upper lobe, abutting the major fissure this is non specific and may represent a resolving infiltrate ...follow up 6 months ....SO WHAT SHOULD I DO > DO I DO I DO ANYTHING? IS GGO SERIOUS what us sub centimeter mean? sorry but this all new to me. im 47 yr old male had covid year ago, now I have reynauds phenomenon and auto immune (which they are still testing for) now there goo pops up..

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@godfather2 - I would like to add my welcome to Connect along with @merpreb and others. I did find some information that hopefully may help put your mind at ease. Hopefully other members can share their experience with subcentimeter GGOs.

- Management of Ground Glass and Subsolid Pulmonary Nodules: Review: https://pulmccm.org/review-articles/management-ground-glass-subsolid-pulmonary-nodules-review/

You may want to join in and post any questions you might have in the following discussion on Raynaud's Syndrome - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/raynauds-syndrome/. Here is some more information on Raynaud's:
- Raynaud's phenomenon: https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/heart-and-blood-vessels/conditions/raynauds-phenomenon

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@merpreb

@bdpp- Good morning. Ground glass is a description of what part of the inside of your lung looks like. https://www.med-ed.virginia.edu/courses/rad/hrct/groundglass.html (The site wouldn't let me copy the image. Pneumonia can be quite an invasion to your lungs, as cited by your symptoms so I hope that you are taking it easy, drinking plenty of water and eating as healthy as you can.
ground glass opacity (GGO) is a nonspecific finding on computed tomography (CT) scans that indicates a partial filling of air spaces in the lungs by exudate or transudate, as well as interstitial thickening or partial collapse of lung alveoli.
I hope that your symptoms abate very soon so that you can get on with your treatments.

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Thank you , I had clear lungs few months ago see report so it’s nothing alarming what is subcentimeter ?

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@godfather2

Hi I was recently diagnosed via CT of "nonspecific growing glass opacity lis seen involving the posterior segment of right upper lobe, abutting the major fissure this is non specific and may represent a resolving infiltrate ...follow up 6 months ....SO WHAT SHOULD I DO > DO I DO I DO ANYTHING? IS GGO SERIOUS what us sub centimeter mean? sorry but this all new to me. im 47 yr old male had covid year ago, now I have reynauds phenomenon and auto immune (which they are still testing for) now there goo pops up..

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@godfather2 This is a good time to start looking at a medical grade genetic screening. The ground glass is early Cancer, and CAN be a sign of various autoimmune cancers. Nebular Genetics is one of the better DNA screeners, I hear. My ground glass turned out to be Gelsolin (GSN AKA AGel, Finnish Gelsolin). Another fellow here has a different cancer, but the first real sign was the ground glass.

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@oldkarl

@godfather2 This is a good time to start looking at a medical grade genetic screening. The ground glass is early Cancer, and CAN be a sign of various autoimmune cancers. Nebular Genetics is one of the better DNA screeners, I hear. My ground glass turned out to be Gelsolin (GSN AKA AGel, Finnish Gelsolin). Another fellow here has a different cancer, but the first real sign was the ground glass.

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Thank you , so I should start with pulmonologist ? Or should I go straight to oncologist I’m 47 yr of male I had Covid mild last year now I’m starting to get all this stuff happening to me ... so the ground glass even though it’s small is cancer ? See report above thank you so much for your input see above what is your opinion

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@godfather2

Thank you , so I should start with pulmonologist ? Or should I go straight to oncologist I’m 47 yr of male I had Covid mild last year now I’m starting to get all this stuff happening to me ... so the ground glass even though it’s small is cancer ? See report above thank you so much for your input see above what is your opinion

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@godfather2- Please do not be alarmed. Ground glass is a description of cell change. When it is tiny like yours is, as the radiologist says, "it is likely benign." Ground Glass doesn't necessarily mean cancer. If the radiologist suspected cancer a biopsy ordered would probably be performed. Your GG is LESS than a less (sub) half-inch.

I have lung cancer and have several GG. It is a particular kind of lung cancer. If they grow more than a certain amount then they are considered cancer.

What type of doctor ordered your CT scan?

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