The role of computed tomography in the detection of intrathoracic lymphoma.

Computed tomographic scanning of the chest in 100 patients with newly diagnosed malignant lymphoma detected mediastinal lymphadenopathy (39%) and parenchymal deposits (15%) with a significantly greater sensitivity and specificity than conventional radiological techniques. This principally affected the staging and treatment of patients with limited stage disease. The stage was changed in 10/61 patients (16%) with Stages I-III prior to CT scan and treatment was altered in 11/29 (38%) patients for whom radiation was the treatment of choice. Complete remissions as defined by CT scan have been more durable than those defined by CXR alone.