title: Aspergilloma mimicking a lung cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pulmonary aspergillosis occurs in the parenchymal cavities or ectatic airways. It rarely affects healthy people with an intact immune response. There have been few reports describing an aspergilloma mimicking a lung cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  We experienced the case of an asymptomatic healthy 71-year-old female who was admitted with an abnormal lung shadow. Chest CT revealed an irregularly shaped solid lung nodule in the left upper lobe, which increased in size during the follow-up at a regional hospital. The pathology of the bronchial biopsy was negative for malignant cells, and the cultures were negative. Because a lung cancer was strongly suspected, video-assisted thoracic surgery was performed. Aspergillus was detected by a pathological study of the excised specimen, with no evidence of lung cancer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is difficult to make an accurate diagnosis of aspergilloma by imaging findings in healthy people with an intact immune response, and therefore a surgical resection allows both the pathological diagnosis and treatment to be performed concurrently.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An aspergilloma presenting a mass shadow on imaging may mimic a lung cancer in healthy people with intact immune response.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chest Surgery, Kitakyushu Municipal Medical Center, Japan. Electronic address: ikyoku189@kmmc.jp.
authors.forename: Manabu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yasuda
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nagashima
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Haro
authors.forename: Genkichi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Saitoh
keywords: Aspergilloma; Imaging findings; Lung cancer