Large cell neuroendocrine cell carcinoma of the lung found incidentally during surgery for spontaneous pneumothorax—a case report—

Abstract

A 54-year-old male with cough, chest pain, and dyspnea was diagnosed as having a right tension pneumothorax. Although chest drainage was instituted, the patient had a persistent air leak. Wedge resection of the lung was done during Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery. An 8-mm nodule was found in the resected lung parenchyma. Based on the histology, a large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma was diagnosed. Therefore, a right upper lobectomy with lymph node dissection was performed ; no remnant cancer tissue nor lymph node metastasis was noted. This paper deals with a case of primary lung cancer found incidentally during surgery for spontaneous pneumothorax.