Please Help.

Hello everyone! I don't really know if this is the right place to ask this but I am sort of at a  loss of where to go. My grandmother (83) recently had trouble breathing and was rushed to the hospital immediately. The doctors then explained that their was a "mass" on the top of her right lung via x-ray and decided it would be best to do a Bronchoscopy. Today, the results came back negative, however the doctor  mentioned today that during the procedure while looking at the mass he believed that it was malignant and wants to do the procedure a second time. What I want to know is how great are the possibilities that this mass is indeed a malignant. Also, 4 months prior to this, she also went through open heart surgery in NYU medical hospital where they took numerous x-rays of her chest, however they did not find ANYTHING during that time. ANY input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you SO much.

[HeinrikMD]

Hi.
I hope this helps.
If your timeline is correct - while you say they found nothing wrong with the lungs on the X-ray, you are not sure if there weren't any changes in the lung that were attributed with heart disease. If the heart is functioning poorly, the lungs may appear more white because of increased pressure of the blood within the lungs. It is possible to miss a mass in this setting and the lungs will of course be declared as normal.
The odds of a mass being benign or malignant is difficult to ascertain without any description of the mass. At the most, only her age can be used to estimate risk of malignancy. More than half of lung cancers occur after age 50 and the median age seems to be 70 in this group. But ultimately, we do need the biopsy.
Perhaps the next logical step is to do a CT scan in order to explore if it is possible to do a biopsy through the chest wall, or if it would be better to insert a scope to obtain the specimen.
Stay positive and discuss your concerns with your doctor/s.

[Doc2324]

Thank you so much for responding so quickly! I'll defiantly take your answer to heart but the waiting game is EXTREMELY frustrating. I don't know if it matters or not but the reason she went into the hospital for her heart was not for heart disease, but for a valve replacement. Also, the doctors revealed today that the right lung has collapsed. Currently, she is on oxygen and can only stay off it for about 7-8 minutes before asking to go back on it. I hope to keep you updated with good news! Again thanks so much for your help!

[HeinrikMD]

Hi,
If the valve replacement was on the left side of the heart, then the scenario I introduced in the last post becomes more likely. In which, the lungs may appear more white and hence a mass may be missed.
From your current post, if the right lung has collapsed - the X-ray appearance of this would be similar to a mass, (though there are details that would distinguish the two, but as I said earlier- X-rays in elderly patients are somewhat more difficult to read). Should this be the case - there may be no mass at all.
Stay positive.