title: Bronchoscopic drainage of a malignant lung abscess.
abstract: Bronchoscopic drainage of a pyogenic lung abscess is an established therapeutic approach in selected patients in whom conventional antibiotic therapy fails. This intervention has also been undertaken in patients with abscess owing to underlying lung cancer and prior combined radiochemotherapy. However, this procedure has rarely been performed in cavitary lesions of advanced tumor origin before initiating any chemotherapy/radiotherapy scheme. Herein, we describe a case of a 68-year-old woman with lung adenocarcinoma stage IIIB, who underwent bronchoscopic drainage of necrotizing tumor lesion, thus improving her initial poor clinical condition and rendering other treatment modalities, such as radiotherapy, more effective and beneficial. Bronchoscopic drainage of a symptomatic cancerous lung abscess should be considered as an alternative and palliative treatment approach in patients with advanced inoperable non-small cell lung cancer.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Pneumonology †Interventional Bronchoscopy Unit, General Army Hospital of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Stamatis
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Katsenos
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Psathakis
authors.forename: Fotini
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chatzivasiloglou
authors.forename: Elvira-Markela
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Antonogiannaki
authors.forename: Anthoula
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Psara
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsintiris
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D000077192:Adenocarcinoma of Lung; D000368:Aged; D001999:Bronchoscopy; D004322:Drainage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008169:Lung Abscess / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D009336:Necrosis