Cannon Ball Diagnosis and Management in a Flight Attendant Candidate

''Cannon ball'' opacities on chest X-rays are a common manifestation of hematogenous dissemination of a malignant tumor in the lungs. They indicate an advanced stage of disease with a very grim prognosis in terms of cure and survival. In aerospace medicine, this aspect means the patient is unfit for flight duties. Nonmetastatic etiologies of pulmonary nodules are rare. We report a case of cannon ball opacities discovered fortuitously during an admission visit.

A 23-yr-old flight attendant candidate came to the Aeromedical Expertise Center of the Military Hospital in Rabat for medical evaluation. He had no previous medical comorbidities and was asymptomatic. The physical examination was unremarkable. Chest X-ray revealed multiple poorly defined pulmonary nodular opacities, without mediastinal widening. After excluding other possibilities, such as infection or malignancy, the diagnosis of a pseudotumoral form of thoracic sarcoidosis was established by clinical and radiological findings, supported by histopathologic analysis.

The pseudotumoral form of sarcoidosis is rare. It is usually seen in young people who are asymptomatic. Chest X-ray shows bilateral nodular opacities of different sizes. CT scan shows snowballs, which may or may not manifest with air bronchogram or mediastinal lymph nodes. Laboratory investigations are nonspecific. Pulmonary functions are normal or may show a restrictive pattern. Evolution is spontaneously favorable and does not require any treatment in asymptomatic patients. Aeromedical fitness in sarcoidosis disease depends on several conditions. This observation affirms the benefit of routine chest X-ray during medical evaulations to detect possible entities that may endanger flight safety.Zerrik M, Echchachoui H, Iloughmane Z, El'mhadi C, Elkhader S, Benaissa L, Chemsi M. Cannon ball diagnosis and management in a flight attendant candidate. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2017; 88(10):958-961.