OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the clinical, radiological and pathological features of primary or metastatic malignancies presenting with multiple lung cavities.

METHODS

A total of 38 cases met the inclusion criteria and had adequate imaging data for retrospective review between June 2006 and August 2013. There were 30 cases of primary lung cancer, and 8 cases of pulmonary metastasis including 6 gastrointestinal tract malignancies, 1 vulva malignancy and 1 scalp malignancy. There were 21 females and 17 males, with a median age of 63 years.

RESULTS

Cough and expectoration were the most common clinical manifestations of primary lung cancer(22/30). There were 4 main types of lung cavities, including thick-walled cavities(n=12), circular cavities (n=24), thin-walled cavities or cystic cavities (n=11), cavities or multi-cystic changes within airspace consolidation or ground glass opacity(n=11). The cavitary lesions were often accompanied by pulmonary nodules, mass and ground glass opacity(32/38, 84%). The presence of internal soft-tissue septa in the cavity was commonly seen(17/38, 45%). The 4(th) type of cavity and presence of air-fluid levels were only found in lung adenocarcinoma, including 5 cases of mucinous adenocarcinoma. In both primary lung cancers and metastatic tumors, adenocarcinoma was the most common histological type (29/30 and 6/8, respectively). The other histological types included 1 case of lung squamous cell carcinoma, 1 vulva adenosquamous carcinoma and 1 scalp angiosarcoma. The possible mechanisms of cavity formation included necrosis, mucin-secretion air-containing cystic spaces in papillary tumors and the check-valve mechanism.

CONCLUSIONS

Adenocarcinoma was the most common histological type in multiple cavitary primary lung cancers and metastatic tumors. These cavities showed varied radiological features and were easy to be misdiagnosed as benign cavitary lung diseases.