An Interesting Case of Pneumocytoma in A 17-Year-Old Teenager

• Published in: Journal of Association of Pulmonologist of Tamil Nadu 2019, Vol.2 (1), p.36-39
• Main Authors: Dhanasekar, Rajagopalan, Priya, Shanmuga, Joseph, Taanya, Periyasamy, Ramkumar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: benign tumour; pneumocytoma; solitary pulmonary nodule
• ISSN: 2772-6355; 2772-6363
• DOI: 10.4103/WKMP-0215.309234

Pneumocytoma is a rare benign neoplasm of the lung. Mostly, asymptomatic, the presentation is usually with an incidental lung mass on Chest X-ray (CXR), commonly a solitary pulmonary nodule. The Computed tomography (CT) is usually characterized by a well- defined juxta pleural mass and with probable calcification. The management of pneumocytoma includes limited resection, which is considered adequate. We report the case of a 17-year-old girl with complaints of shortness of breath for three months. On examination of the respiratory system, there were decreased movements, dullness to percussion and absent breath sounds in left hemithorax. CXR showed left opaque hemithorax. PET CT showed FDG (18F-fluorodeoxyglucose) avid (Maximum standardized uptake value [SUV]= 14.53), heterogeneous mass lesion occupying the entire left lung. Initially misdiagnosed to be malignant due to the strong FDG uptake. CT guided biopsy was suggestive of spindle cell neoplasm. The patient was taken up for pneumonectomy under cardiopulmonary bypass due to adherence of mass to the left pulmonary artery. Postoperative histopathological examination was reported as benign pneumocytoma. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) panel of the lesion cells was reported strongly positive for vimentin, and focal strong positivity for both Thyroid transcription factor 1 (TTF1) and Epithelial membrane antigen (EMA). The patient is on follow up and is apparently doing well with no complications or recurrence.