A Case of Primary Choriocarcinoma of the Lung.

Cho, Young Jae; Lee, Sei Won; Lee, Sang Min; Yim, Jae Joon; Yoo, Chul Gyu; Han, Sung Koo; Shim, Young Soo; Kim, Young Whan

doi:2006.61.6.578

Tuberc Respir Dis > Volume 61(6); 2006 > Article

Case Report

Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases 2006;61(6):578-584.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4046/trd.2006.61.6.578 Published online December 1, 2006.

A Case of Primary Choriocarcinoma of the Lung.

Young Jae Cho, Sei Won Lee, Sang Min Lee, Jae Joon Yim, Chul Gyu Yoo, Sung Koo Han, Young Soo Shim, Young Whan Kim

Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine and Lung Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. ywkim@snu.ac.kr

Abstract

A primary choriocarcinoma of the lung is extremely rare, and difficult to distinguish from a metastatic choriocarcinoma considering that the lung is also one of the most frequent sites of metastasis. We report a 28-year-old woman patient who was initially misdiagnosed with an ectopic pregnancy and was operated on under the impression of an unidentified malignancy of the lung, which was finally proven to be a choriocarcinoma of the lung. A pelvic examination by a gynecologist, pelvic magnetic resonance imaging and whole body fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography was performed in order to rule out a metastatic choriocarcinoma of the lung. After a curative operation, her serum beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) level, which was highly elevated in the initial evaluation, had decreased dramatically to the normal range. She is currently being followed up regularly without any evidence of recurrence or elevation of her beta-HCG level.

Key Words: Primary choriocarcinoma, Lung, beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG)