An autopsy case of Mycobacterium abscessus complex infection of necrotic tissue inside a lung cancer tumor
Muneyuki Sekiyaa Takuma Isshikia Go Sanoa Sota Sadamotob Kazutoshi Shibuyab Sakae Hommac
aDepartment of Respiratory Medicine, Toho University Omori Medical Center
bDepartment of Diagnostic Pathology, Toho University Omori Medical Center
cDepartment of Advanced and Integrated Interstitial Lung Diseases Research, School of Medicine, Toho University
A 68-year-old man with lung cancer was admitted to our hospital for treatment of left pneumothorax and pleural effusion. Mycobacterium abscessus complex detected in pleural effusion was treated with clarithromycin, amikacin, and imipenem/cilastatin. The patient died of respiratory failure 3 months after the start of antibiotic treatment and an autopsy was conducted. Lung specimens showed the formation of epithelioid cell granuloma. In addition, acid-fast bacilli were present in necrotic tissue inside the cancer and in nodules of the pleural cavity, outside the lung. Autopsy findings indicated that M. abscessus complex first infected the necrotic tissue inside the lung cancer and then spread to the pleural cavity after development of pneumothorax.
Nontuberculous mycobacteriosis Lung cancer Pleuritis
Received 14 May 2020 / Accepted 20 Aug 2020
AJRS, 9(6): 444-448, 2020