DR MARTIN SCURR: At 71, how high-risk is the Pope's operation and should we be worried?

How concerned should we be about the Pope having to undergo surgery to remove a lung nodule?

A nodule is essentially an abnormal growth and they can be found throughout the body but more typically in the vocal cords and lungs.

In fact, lung nodules are common and are spotted in nearly one in every three CT scans of the chest. 

The vast majority are benign and don’t cause symptoms but are what we call ‘incidentalomas’ – essentially lumps that are spotted when the patient was being scanned for something else and wouldn’t actually go on to cause problems.

Indeed, Pope Leo himself has said the nodule was spotted after some medical examinations. It is reassuring that he also indicated it is at a ‘very early stage’ and is ‘well-contained’. 

Clearly the concern is the nature of the nodule. From previous reports we know the 71-year-old enjoys playing tennis and other sports, and appears otherwise healthy. He is not known to be a smoker.

This is comforting, but while not all nodules will be removed, it seems his doctors are understandably acting with an abundance of caution and are planning to take a biopsy to check it in the lab.

Sometimes this is done by inserting a thin, flexible tube with a tiny light and camera via the airways and into the lung. 

A pinch of tissue is then taken using a special biopsy needle. This is done with the patient under sedation, but if the nodule is not accessible using this method, the patient will have keyhole surgery under a general anaesthetic to remove the nodule.

(A nodule that has an irregular outline on the scan is potentially more worrying and in such cases the section of the lung containing the nodule may be removed completely.)

Either procedure is minimally invasive and the Pope should come out of it with a bounce and be back to his full schedule within a very short time.