CAVITY - a useful mnemonic for the causes of a cavitating lung mass.
C = cancer
- bronchogenic carcinoma : most frequently SCC
- cavitatory metastasis : again most frequently SCC
A = autoimmune granulomas
- Wegener's granulomatosis
- rheumatoid arthritis (rheumatoid nodules)
V = vascular
I = infection
-
pulmonary abscess
- TB, fungal, staph aureus
T = trauma
Y = youth
Case 1 is an example of a cavitating primary lung cancer. Case 2 shows a thick walled cavity in a patient with Wegener's granulomatosis. Case 3 is an example of tuberculosis. Case 4 is of congenital pulmonary airways malformation (CPAM) in a neonate.
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