← Return to New CT scan indicates changes: Can radiologist reports be different?

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@merpreb

@akfishinmom1- Hello, it's nice to meet you. I am a lung cancer survivor and the Mentor for the lung cancer group. I have run into this problem and I have to say that it shouldn't be a problem. I am treated at the second top hospital in the US and my Lung Surgeon and Oncologist now wait until after the radiologist's report to make a finding and send me the actual report. No matter how clear the CT scan is, radiologists are trained to see and measure everything little thing that they are looking for that no matter how minuscule they are. Even if doctors sometimes brag that they are great at reading CT scans, unless they are in front of the screen and are trained to read scans they aren't as good as radiologists.

My Oncologist actually goes to the radiologist who reads my scans and looks at his screen and discusses things with him/her!

Scans also depend on the size of the slice (tissue slice that is captured) that the machine is programmed for at your hospital. The thickness of the tissue represented in each image slice can vary depending on the CT machine used, but usually ranges from 1-10 millimeters.
https://www.nibib.nih.gov/science-education/science-topics/computed-tomography-ct
If I were you, I would ask for an explanation of the differences in measurements. Also, the ground glass area can be made up of different types of tissues. Your specialist should explain this to you in a manner that you fully understand.

Computed tomography machines are set at different levels in different hospitals, and you had two different types of tests. Also, Lymph nodes can be swollen and not a danger. I have a couple of them.

I don't blame you for being confused. Is your specialist open to explaining things to you?

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Replies to "@akfishinmom1- Hello, it's nice to meet you. I am a lung cancer survivor and the Mentor..."

I did ask him about the difference in sizes and he looked thru the slides and showed me how he went back and sized the nodule based on his machine to the current scan I had. He also found a 10mm Pure groundglass nodule that the other radiologist did not report just like the swollen lymph node.No mention of the type of tissue the subsolid nodule looked like. Didn’t know to ask about that. I guess because the first scan was for a calcium CT score and not lung screening the radiologist didn’t feel the need to report on every little thing. Right now our hospitals are so overwhelmed with covid cases I can’t even get a pulmonary function test that he ordered. I guess the Pet/CT will show more. Thanks for your imput. I appreciate it.