17mm nodule

Would a 17mm nodule in the anterior segment of the left upper lobe be considered a large or small nodule?  This nodule was not present in a CT Scan three years earlier.  What is the prognosis for something such as this?

[National Jewish]

A 17 mm nodule is not considered a large nodule. However, the fact that it was not present 3 years ago and is present now, makes it important to be evaluated a pulmonary specialist.  The cause of such lesions could be infectious, inflammatory or a tumor.  The likelihood of it being one or another of these is dependent in turn on a number of factors including, but not limited to, age, smoker or non-smoker, symptoms or none, geographic exposures etc.  With reference to the latter, such nodules are common in the mid-west (Histoplasmosis) and the southwest (Coccidiomycosis).  The safest suggestion is for this to be further evaluated.