Pasteurella multocida lung abscess. A case report and review of the literature

A 65-year-old man was seen with an asymptomatic solitary pulmonary nodule of at least five months' duration. Culture of a percutaneous needle aspirate yielded Pasteurella multocida. Surgical resection of the lesion showed an acute and chronic lung abscess histologically, and culture again yielded P multocida. The potential for this rare human respiratory tract pathogen to cause indolent, necrotizing parenchymal pulmonary infection in an asymptomatic patient is thus documented. The roentgenographic appearance of the lesion mimicked a primary carcinoma.