Primary amebic pulmonary abscess with concurrent pulmonary adenocarcinoma: A rare presentation

Abstract

Amebic lung abscess without involving another system like liver or colon is immensely uncommon. We want to report a case of a 72-year-old woman who presented in emergency with complaints of shortness of breath, loss of weight, right-side chest pain, and loss of appetite since 6 months. Thorax and abdomen sonography showed right-side massive pleural effusion with no significant finding in the abdomen. In pleural fluid reports, amebic serology IgG by indirect immunofluorescence assay and serum PCR for amoeba came positive. The patient was diagnosed with primary amebic lung abscess. After 14 days of treatment, the patient showed no signs of improvement. Pleural tap was done again and came positive for malignant cells. With ultrasound guidance, pleural biopsy was done, and histopathological investigations showed adenocarcinoma. This case exhibited that repetitive cytological examination of pleural effusion and histopathological examination should be used in cases showing recurrent effusion or unusual conditions, like our patient.

Keywords

• adenocarcinoma
• amebic lung abscess
• immunofluorescence
• pleural biopsy