Case Report: Misdiagnosis of Lung Carcinoma in Patients with Shrunken Lung Cyst After High Altitude Travel

Abstract

Yibing Xie,1,2 Dongmei Zhang,3 Huanfen Zhao,4 Shaoyang Lei,2 Hua Zhang,5 Shuqian Zhang2 1Department of Graduate School, Hebei North University, Zhangjiakou, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Radiology, Hebei General Hospital, Shijiazhuang, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Endocrinology, Hebei General Hospital, Shijiazhuang, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Pathology, Hebei General Hospital, Shijiazhuang, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Thoracic Surgery, Hebei General Hospital, Shijiazhuang, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Shuqian Zhang, Department of Radiology, Hebei General Hospital, 348 Heping West Road, Shijiazhuang, 050051, People’s Republic of China, Tel [phone], Email [email protected]: Lung cancer associated with cystic airspace is a rare disease, and the imaging understanding of lung cancer with cystic cavity is still unclear. Little is known in the literature on whether cystic lung cancer is caused by emphysema or ruptured bullae.Case Reports: We report the case of a 50-year-old female patient after finishing a business trip in November 2021, when another chest CT demonstrated an unexpected reduction in the cyst, with a solid mural nodule on the posterior wall. The airspace of the cyst is only about 13 mm × 12 mm × 6 mm in size. The size of the mural nodule in the posterior wall is about 10 mm × 6 mm × 5 mm. The patient felt anxious due to suspicion of lung cancer. 2.5 months after the last chest CT, she accepted minimally invasive thoracoscopic surgery on the posterior basal segment of the left lower lobe. The postoperative pathology showed benign lesions.Conclusion: For radiologists, it is important to recognize the process from lung cysts or bullae to LC-CAS, especially the morphological changes of the cyst airspace and the cyst wall, in order to identify the malignant features of lung cysts in time.Keywords: bullae, lung cancer associated with cystic airspaces, pulmonary cysts, lung disease

Keywords

• bullae
• lung cancer associated with cystic airspaces
• pulmonary cysts
• lung disease