A Pulmonary Paragonimiasis Case Mimicking Metastatic Pulmonary Tumor

• Published in: Korean journal of parasitology Vol. 49; no. 1; pp. 69 - 72
• Main Authors: Kim, Ki Uk, Lee, Kwangha, Park, Hye-Kyung, Jeong, Yeon Joo, Yu, Hak Sun, Lee, Min Ki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) 대한기생충학열대의학회 01.03.2011; The Korean Society for Parasitology
• Subjects: Adult; Animals; Case Report; Diagnostic Errors; Female; Humans; Lung Diseases, Parasitic - diagnosis; Lung Diseases, Parasitic - diagnostic imaging; Lung Diseases, Parasitic - parasitology; Lung Neoplasms - diagnosis; Paragonimiasis - diagnosis; Paragonimiasis - diagnostic imaging; Paragonimiasis - parasitology; Paragonimus westermani - isolation & purification; Positron-Emission Tomography; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Paragonimus westermani; positron emission tomography; paragonimiasis; metastasis; tumor
• ISSN: 0023-4001; 1738-0006
• DOI: 10.3347/kjp.2011.49.1.69

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.