Pope Leo XIV will be hospitalized at the Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome this Tuesday at noon to undergo surgery on the nodule that was discovered in his lung, sources from the Vatican press office reported. At this time, no details are known about the time of the surgery.
Leo
(Pope Leo XIV announces that he will undergo surgery to remove a nodule in his lung)
A lung nodule is a small mass of tissue that can be detected through x-rays or CT scans. According to the American Lung Cancer Society, they can be caused by a number of factors including irritants such as air pollution, diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer. Also due to scarred tissues from a previous infection.
The pope assured that it was detected at “a very early stage.”
There are several surgical approaches, depending on the size and location of the nodule and whether doctors suspect cancer, explained Dr. Ankit Bharat, chief of thoracic surgery at Northwestern Medicine.
Most of these nodules are benign, but it is not clear whether the Pope’s nodule was biopsied after examinations.
“When doctors decide to proceed directly to the operation instead of first obtaining the biopsy, it may suggest a higher level of concern on the lung scan,” Bharat said.
Lung cancer is easier to treat if it is caught early. The deadliest version of the disease is usually caused by cigarette smoking, but about 20% of cases are diagnosed in people who have never smoked or used tobacco, according to the American Cancer Society.
However, finding a nodule on a CT scan does not confirm a cancer diagnosis, Bharat said, and surgery will reveal more information as doctors will be able to examine the nodule under a microscope.
Advances in these procedures make them less invasive and some patients can walk again after a day or two.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement on Sunday that “the operation is scheduled for the first two days of this week and the estimated post-operative recovery time will be approximately one week.”
If the nodule is larger and more tissue is removed from the lungs, meaning the surgery is more invasive, the patient may need three or four weeks to fully recover.
“Given the pope’s age, his recovery could be slower than that of a young, healthy patient,” Bharat said. The pontiff is 71 years old.
Leo XIV has a trip scheduled to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru in November. If the surgery is minimally invasive and there are no unexpected findings, you may be able to fulfill that commitment, according to doctors. If the nodule is cancerous, doctors will determine if it can be treated while traveling or if the trip should be postponed.
