Korean J Parasitol.  2011 Mar;49(1):69-72. 10.3347/kjp.2011.49.1.69.

A Pulmonary Paragonimiasis Case Mimicking Metastatic Pulmonary Tumor

• Kim KU
• Lee K
• Park HK
• Jeong YJ
• Yu HS
• Lee MK

• KMID: 1715636
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.2011.49.1.69

Abstract

Pulmonary paragonimiasis is a relatively rare cause of lung disease revealing a wide variety of radiologic findings, such as air-space consolidation, nodules, and cysts. We describe here a case of pulmonary paragonimiasis in a 27-year-old woman who presented with a 2-month history of cough and sputum. Based on chest computed tomography (CT) scans and fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) findings, the patient was suspected to have a metastatic lung tumor. However, she was diagnosed as having Paragonimus westermani infection by an immunoserological examination using ELISA. Follow-up chest X-ray and CT scans after chemotherapy with praziquantel showed an obvious improvement. There have been several reported cases of pulmonary paragonimiasis mimicking lung tumors on FDG-PET. However, all of them were suspected as primary lung tumors. To our knowledge, this patient represents the first case of paragonimiasis mimicking metastatic lung disease on FDG-PET CT imaging.

Keyword

Paragonimus westermani; paragonimiasis; positron emission tomography; tumor; metastasis

MeSH Terms

Adult
Animals
Diagnostic Errors
Female
Humans
Lung Diseases, Parasitic/*diagnosis/*parasitology/radiography/radionuclide imaging
Lung Neoplasms/*diagnosis
Paragonimiasis/*diagnosis/*parasitology/radiography/radionuclide imaging
Paragonimus westermani/isolation & purification
Positron-Emission Tomography
Tomography, X-Ray Computed