2004 Volume 52 Issue 4 Pages 257-260
A 53-year-old woman was admitted for evaluation of a solitary pulmonary nodule on the chest radiograph. She was asymptomatic and had no past history or familial history. Physical and laboratory findings revealed no abnormality. Computed tomography (CT) of the chest showed a solitary nodule in the right S3 area with a size of 12mm. The patient underwent partial pulmonary resection by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. Pathological examination of the resected specimen revealed epitheloid cell granulomas with caseous necrosis. The final diagnosis of pulmonary Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infection was made by PCR. The radiographic appearance of a solitary nodule in pulmonary MAC diseases is extremely rare. The radiographic findings were difficult to distinguish from other tumors, including lung cancer. This infection should be added to the list of possible causes of solitary pulmonary nodule.
