[Resection of a pulmonary infarction presenting as a mass shadow on chest X-ray--case report]

Recently the incidence of pulmonary infarction has increased in Japan. The patient was a 67-year-old male who was examined by a local physician for bloody sputum and a cough. A chest X-ray showed a 5-cm mass shadow in the lower left lung area. Bronchofiberscopy and percutaneous needle biopsy were performed, but they did not permit a definite diagnosis, and since the patient had a 13-year history of penile cancer (squamous cell carcinoma), and metastasis or even primary lung cancer could not be completely ruled out, an open chest biopsy was performed. The postoperative histopathological examination allowed a diagnosis of hemorrhagic pulmonary infarction. We report a case of pulmonary infarction resection that was difficult to diagnose preoperatively.