Misdiagnosis of a Small Cell Lung Cancer Resulting From Inaccurate Pathology

• Published in: The Annals of thoracic surgery Vol. 99; no. 5; pp. e125 - e127
• Main Authors: Song, Tie-niu, MD, Zhang, Jian-hua, MD, PhD, Li, Bin, PhD, Zhou, Hui, BA, Jiang, Peng, PhD, Yang, Jian-bao, MD, Wei, Xiao-ping, MD, Zhu, Duo-jie, MD, Guo, Quan-wei, MD
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Inc 01.05.2015
• Subjects: Adult; Biopsy; Cardiothoracic Surgery; Diagnostic Errors; Female; Humans; Lung Neoplasms - pathology; Small Cell Lung Carcinoma - pathology; Surgery; 10
• ISSN: 0003-4975; 1552-6259
• DOI: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2015.02.003

Currently, a biopsy provides the most reliable evidence for diagnosing a disease, and the majority of doctors do not question the diagnosis made by a pathologist. However, an inaccurate diagnosis may lead to serious consequences; for example, a benign tumor may be misdiagnosed as a malignancy, or a malignancy may be deemed to be benign. How to avoid these types of mistakes is a continuing issue of concern to all doctors. Here, we report a case of small cell lung cancer misdiagnosed as an inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor. Fortunately, we performed a mediastinoscopy on the patient and discovered the actual pathologic condition. This case is presented to caution against the possibility of the misdiagnosis of uncommon diseases in clinical practice.