An Older Woman With Transient Cough, Mild Airway Obstruction, and Lung Nodules

A 66-year-old woman with no significant medical history presented initially to her primary care physician's office with a 2-weeks history of productive cough and associated wheezing after cough paroxysms. Empiric antibiotic was started, with no improvement. Chest radiograph was performed, which showed bilateral nodular opacities (Fig 1). The patient's cough resolved in 6 weeks after empiric treatment with oral steroids, inhaled steroids, and bronchodilators. A follow-up chest radiograph done at 6 weeks showed persistent abnormalities, and she was referred for a pulmonary evaluation. She denied any fevers, cough, hemoptysis, shortness of breath, wheezing, loss of appetite, or weight loss at that time. She had no significant medical problems and was not on any medications at that time. She was a nonsmoker. She worked in an office setting and denied any occupational or recreational exposures or recent travels. There was no family history of lung diseases or cancer.