title: Pulmonary actinomycosis: a case undergoing resection through video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS).
abstract: Actinomycosis is an uncommon disease, which is usually manifested as cervicofacial infection and related to poor oral hygiene or compromised immune function. Pulmonary actinomycosis is rare, but its diagnosis is changing due to its variable presentation and the similarity in appearance to other intrapulmonary diseases. Here we report an 80-year-old man with a solitary pulmonary nodule over the left upper lobe. Pulmonary neoplasm was highly suspected in this patient and thus resection of the mass was undertaken through video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS). Histopathological examination demonstrated this patient had an Actinomyeces infection. While the application of VATS in patients with pulmonary actinomycosis has rarely been reported in literature, we conclude that VATS is valuable for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with undetermined pulmonary nodule(s).
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Chia-Yi Christian Hospital, 600 Taichung, Taiwan, China.
authors.forename: Ming-shian
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Wea-lung
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Shi-ping
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Luh
authors.forename: Thomas Chang-yao
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Tsao
authors.forename: Tzu-ching
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000196:Actinomycosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014741:Video Recording / Q000379:methods*