March 2016 pulmonary case of the month

Abstract

No abstract available. Article truncated after first page. History of Present Illness: A 74-year-old man was referred for a recently identified right pleural effusion and dyspnea on exertion. Past Medical History, Family History and Social History: He has a history of anemia, hypertension, and prostate cancer with a prostatectomy in 2015. He is a life-long nonsmoker and has no occupational exposures. Family history is noncontributory. Physical Examination: He had diminished breath sounds at the right lung base and a palpable spleen. Otherwise the physical examination was unremarkable. Laboratory: CBC: hemoglobin 8.5 g/dL, white blood count 7.7 X 109 cells/L, platelets 357 X 109 cells/L. Radiography: A chest X-ray showed a right pleural effusion. Representative images from the CT scan are shown in Figure 1. Which of the following is the most likely diagnosis? 1. Empyema; 2. Lung cancer; 3. Tuberculosis; 4. Usual interstitial pneumonia; 5. Valley fever (coccidioidomycosis). ...

Keywords

• endobronchial mass
• bronchoscopy
• hamartoma
• pleural effusion
• lymphocytic leukemia
• CT scan
• histology
• pathology
• lymphocytes
• diagnosis