title: Acute respiratory failure mimicking acute respiratory distress syndrome due to parenchymal infiltration by metastatic melanoma.
abstract: Malignant melanoma is the most aggressive form of skin cancer and carries a predisposition for metastasis to many different organs. Pulmonary dissemination is common, most often presenting as multiple discrete pulmonary nodules. While a variety of other intrathoracic patterns can occur, diffuse parenchymal infiltration causing acute respiratory failure is an extremely rare manifestation of metastatic disease. We present a case of an otherwise healthy man who developed rapidly progressive respiratory failure mimicking acute respiratory distress syndrome due to melanomatous infiltration of the lung parenchyma and airways.
authors.affiliation: These authors contributed equally to this work.
authors.forename: Siddhartha G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Kapnadak
authors.affiliation: These authors contributed equally to this work.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Abt
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Risbano
keywords: acute respiratory distress syndrome; cancer; hypoxemia; melanoma; metastasis; tumor