Case 50-1983: A 72-Year-Old Woman with Pulmonary Infiltrates

Presentation of Case A 72-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital because of a pulmonary infiltrate. She was well until two years earlier, when a cough productive of yellow sputum developed and resolved after the administration of penicillin. Four months later cough and sputum production recurred in association with fever. An x-ray film of the chest taken 18 months before admission (Fig. 1) showed nonhomogeneous consolidation in the right upper lobe associated with volume loss and retraction of the minor fissure; linear densities were visible in the lingula. Tomographic examination of the lungs disclosed no hilar or mediastinal mass. Cytologic . . .