NYMC Faculty Publications

Three's Company: A Woman with Rash, Uterine Mass and Cystic Lungs

DOI

10.4081/monaldi.2020.1162

Journal Title

Monaldi archives for chest disease = Archivio Monaldi per le malattie del torace

Document Type

Case Report

Publication Date

1-21-2020

Department

Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology

Second Department

Medicine

Abstract

Cystic lung disease encompasses a wide variety of clinical entities, the diagnosis of which is sometimes straightforward and other times obscure. To narrow the list of possibilities, it behooves the physician to consider the context in which the cystic lung disease is uncovered. Clues to the diagnosis might be provided by findings that are not initially obvious and are not located in the thorax. We describe an instructive case of a woman with cystic lungs detected during a search for malignancy prompted by a diagnosis of dermatomyositis. Malignancy was indeed uncovered in the form of endometrial carcinoma, the management of which eventually also established the etiology of cystic lung disease. In the discussion we attempt to connect the patient's autoimmune disease, uterine cancer, and lung cysts. The potential interplay among these three components of her presentation makes for intriguing mechanistic speculation.

Share

COinS