Tuberc Respir Dis.  1989 Sep;36(3):264-268. 10.4046/trd.1989.36.3.264.

A Case of Hidden Lung Cancer Presented by Hydropneumothorax

• KMID: 2528550
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4046/trd.1989.36.3.264

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.