A Case of Pulmonary Lymphangitis Carcinomatosis from Cervical Carcinoma

Abstract

Background. Pulmonary metastasis presenting as lymphangitis carcinomatosis arising from the cervix is rare. Case. The patient was a 39-year-old woman who presented with a 1-month history of cough and fever. A chest X-ray and chest CT scan showed diffuse interstitial thickening in both lungs and enlarged mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes. Bronchoscopy was performed, and a transbronchial lung biopsy revealed neoplastic cells in the lymphatics. These neoplastic cells were confirmed to be metastasis from a cervical cancer that had been diagnosed and treated two years earlier. Conclusions. Although pulmonary lymphangitis carcinomatosis arising from cervical cancer is rare, clinicians should take this condition into consideration in the differential diagnosis of interstitial shadows in a patient with a history of cervical cancer. A transbronchial lung biopsy is useful for the diagnosis.