Presentation
Fever, chills, cough.
Patient Data
Age: 45 years
Gender: Female
From the case:
Pulmonary abscess
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Coronal CT scout
A large cavity is seen occupying most of the left lower lobe and shows thin (< 1 cm) irregular wall, air / fluid level and surrounding by areas of consolidation with air bronchogram
Case Discussion
The main differential diagnosis is empyema and cavitary neoplastic lesion e.g. squamous cell carcinoma. Many signs differentiate this lesion from empyema including acute angle with the chest wall, absence of pleura split sign, irregular wall and surrounding consolidation. The wall is relatively thin (< 1 cm) while the cavitary neoplasm usually shows thick wall.
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