A Case of Hidden Lung Cancer Presented by Hydropneumothorax

Jeong, Ki Ho; Nam, Gui Hyun; Cho, Sang Heon; Han, Sung Koo; Shim, Young Soo; Kim, Keun Youl; Han, Young Chol

doi:1989.36.3.264

Tuberc Respir Dis > Volume 36(3); 1989 > Article

Case report

Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases 1989;36(3):264-268.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4046/trd.1989.36.3.264 Published online September 1, 1989.

A Case of Hidden Lung Cancer Presented by Hydropneumothorax

Ki Ho Jeong, Gui Hyun Nam, Sang Heon Cho, Sung Koo Han, Young Soo Shim, Keun Youl Kim, Young Chol Han

Department of lnternal Medicine, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

자연 기흉으로 발현한 잠복 폐암 1예

정기호, 남귀현, 조상헌, 한성구, 심영수, 김건열, 한용철

Abstract

Lung cancer is usually presented with respiratory symptoms such as cough, sputum, dyspnea or chest pain and it is also found incidentally on routine chest X-ray. Rarely lung cancer is associated with pneumothorax but usually the chest X-ray shows mass lesion. Very rarely a hidden lung cancer can be found in patient of pneumothorax by aggressive diagnostic workup. There are only a few reports in literature on detecting hidden lung cancer in patient of pneumothorax. We report a case of hydropneumothorax and hidden lung cancer in 77-year-old male with a brief review of literature In our case, the right lung was completely re-expanded with close thoracotomy but the infiltration of lung was not cleared up by adequate antibiotic therapy. On bronchoscopic examination, a small round, smooth surfaced mass was found at subsegmental level of anterior segment of right upper lobe, which revealed pseudosarcomatous squamous cell carcinoma on pathologic examination. The possibility of concurrent lung cancer should be kept in mind in case of unexplained pneumothorax in middle aged smoker.