A Case of Pulmonary Siderosis Mimicking Metastatic Lung Cancer.

Koo, So My; Park, Sung Woo; Park, Jong Sook; Lee, June Hyuk; Jang, An Soo; Kim, Do Jin; Park, Choon Sik; Paik, Sang Hyun; Koh, Eun Suk

doi:2011.70.1.58

Tuberc Respir Dis > Volume 70(1); 2011 > Article

Case Report

Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases 2011;70(1):58-62.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4046/trd.2011.70.1.58 Published online January 1, 2011.

A Case of Pulmonary Siderosis Mimicking Metastatic Lung Cancer.

So My Koo, Sung Woo Park, Jong Sook Park, June Hyuk Lee, An Soo Jang, Do Jin Kim, Choon Sik Park, Sang Hyun Paik, Eun Suk Koh

¹Department of Internal Medicine, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Bucheon, Korea. swpark@schmc.ac.kr
²Department of Radiology, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Bucheon, Korea.
³Department of Pathology, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Bucheon, Korea.

Abstract

Pulmonary siderosis is a pneumoconiosis caused by chronic iron inhalation. A diagnosis of pulmonary siderosis is based on a patient history of iron inhalation, on chest radiographic findings, and on accumulation of iron oxide in macrophages within the lung. A typical radiographic finding of pulmonary siderosis includes ill-defined micronodules that are diffusely distributed in the lung. We experienced a 52-year-woman with a 1.3x1.5-cm mass in the left upper lobe with multiple nodules in both lungs. Because the radiographic findings were atypical, we conducted a video-assisted thorascopic lung biopsy procedure to exclude the diagnosis of metastatic lung cancer. After confirming iron deposition in the lung tissue and knowing the patient's occupational history of welding iron, we concluded that this was a case of pulmonary siderosis.

Key Words: Pulmonary hemosiderosis, Lung Neoplasms, Neoplasm Metastasis, Multiple Pulmonary Nodules, Aspergilloma