The Different Evaluative Significance of Enlarged Lymph Nodes on Preoperative CT in the N Stage for Patients with Suspected Subsolid and Solid Lung Cancers

To investigate the clinical value of enlarged mediastinal and/or hilar lymph nodes on CT for patients with lung subsolid and solid nodules. The study was performed on patients who underwent surgical treatment for suspected lung cancer. One hundred seventeen subsolid nodules and 101 solid nodules with enlarged lymph nodes (LNs) were included in the study group. The same number of cases with normal LNs with a balanced distribution of the clinical T stage were randomly selected as the control group for each study group. The pathological statuses of the lymph nodes of these patients proven by histopathology after surgery were collected. Lung solid lesions with enlarged LNs were more prone to lymph node metastasis (37.6% vs. 13.9%, p