[False pulmonary metastases. Apropos of 8 cases]

The authors report the cases of 8 patients who had been, or were being, treated for pharyngo-laryngeal carcinoma (n = 7) or cancer of the bladder (n = 1). Because of the finding of one or several peripheral pulmonary opacities, these patients underwent exploratory thoracotomy which showed that these opacities corresponded to benign lesions instead of metastases of these cancers. This leads to a reappraisal of the diagnostic approach of pulmonary opacities in patients with known cancer, since benign lesions unrelated to the malignancy cannot be excluded. The need for an accurate diagnosis of these intrapulmonary lesions is emphasized, using various exploratory methods including thoracotomy if required.