Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis-Like Pathological Changes Mimicking Lung Adenocarcinoma in Situ

Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis-Like Pathological Changes Mimicking Lung Adenocarcinoma in Situ

Kazuki Hayasaka, Tomohiro Fujita, Shunsuke Eba, Nobuyuki Sato, Hidekachi Kurotaki and Chihiro Inoue

¹Department of Thoracic Surgery, Aomori Prefectural Central Hospital, Aomori, Aomori, Japan
²Department of Pathology, Aomori Prefectural Central Hospital, Aomori, Aomori, Japan
³Department of Anatomic Pathology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan

An enlarging ground-glass nodule (GGN) in the lungs closely resembles the characteristic appearance of a well differentiated lung adenocarcinoma or adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS). Herein, we present an unusual case characterized by clinical features suggestive of AIS but pathologically confirmed as exhibiting pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP)-like changes. Patients with enlarging pure GGNs warrant consideration for diagnostic and curative surgery. While a considerable proportion of such cases receives a pathological diagnosis of lung malignancy, it is imperative to consider alternative benign conditions in the differential diagnosis, such as PAP-like changes.

Key words —— adenocarcinoma in situ; ground-glass nodule; high-resolution computed tomography; pathology; pulmonary alveolar proteinosis

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Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2024 November, 264(3), 117-120.

Correspondence: Kazuki Hayasaka, Department of Thoracic Surgery, Aomori Prefectural Central Hospital, 2-1-1 Higashi Tsukurimichi, Aomori, Aomori 030-8553, Japan.

e-mail: kzk55hysk@gmail.com