A 52-Year-Old Smoker With an Incidental Pulmonary Nodule

52-year-old man was referred to our institution for evaluation of a pulmonary nodule. The patient presented to his primary-care physician with worsening cough a month prior to the current presentation when a chest radiograph revealed a questionable nodule in the right upper lung. The patient underwent a CT scan of the chest with contrast, which confi rmed the presence of a 9-mm nodule in the right upper lung. The patient was referred for work-up of this pulmonary nodule. Review of symptoms was positive only for the presence of cough associated with mucoid expectoration for the past few months. The patient had no signifi cant medical history, was a smoker (35-pack-year smoking history), and currently smoked 5 cigarettes/d. He denied any contact with sick peo ple or pets, travel, or history of malignancy in his family.