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lung cavity
Cavitation in a lung lesion suggests liquefaction necrosis with removal of necrotic cavitary contents through the cough reflex.
Etiology:
1) lung abscess
a) oral anaerobes
1] Bacteroides
2] fusobacteria
3] Actinomyces
4] anaerobic & microaerophilic cocci
b) enteric aerobic gram-negative bacilli
c) Pseudomonas aeruginosa
d) Legionella
e) Staphylococcus aureus
f) Streptococcus pneumonia type III
2) tuberculosis
- especially upper lobe cavitary lesions in reactivation of tuberculosis
3) Nocardia
4) mycoses (fungal infection)
a) coccidioidomycosis
b) actinomycosis
c) histoplasmosis
d) Blastomyces
5) cavitating pulmonary carcinoma
6) cavitating metastatic tumor
7) Wegener's granulomatosis
8) pulmonary infarction
9) infected bullae & cysts
Related
solitary pulmonary nodule; pulmonary coin lesion
General
cavity
abnormal morphologic structure (malformation)
References
- Introduction to Clinical Imaging, Radiology Syllabus, UCSF, 1993
- Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 14th ed.
Fauci et al (eds), McGraw-Hill Inc. NY, 1998, pg 1186