Focal organizing pneumonia mimicking lung cancer: a surgeon's view

Focal organizing pneumonia is a unique form of organizing pneumonia. Little is known regarding its clinical and radiological feature, diagnosis, management, and outcome. Twenty patients with focal organizing pneumonia were investigated and compared with 40 patients with bronchogenic carcinoma. There were 38 men (63.3%) and 22 women (36.7%). The mean age was 55 ± 9.9 years. No specific feature in clinical and radiological manifestation was found to distinguish between focal organizing pneumonia and bronchogenic carcinoma. In patients with focal organizing pneumonia, wedge resection was performed in 12 cases and lobectomy in eight cases. Follow-up was complete with a median period of 26 months (range, 6 to 104 months). All patients were free from recurrence of organizing pneumonia. Clinical and radiologic findings of focal organizing pneumonia are nonspecific, and this unique form of organizing pneumonia is difficult to differentiate from lung cancer. Surgical resection allows both diagnosis and cure. However, considering the benign nature of this disease, major pulmonary resections should be avoided.