Intermittent Cough and Hemoptysis With Tree-in-Bud Opacities on Imaging

A 44-year-old man with hyperthyroidism and no smoking history presented to his internist with 5 months of intermittent cough and hemoptysis. The patient’s family history was remarkable only for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in his father. He had a history of a 25-day exposure to a home renovation at work 2 years prior to presentation. He was treated with oral clarithromycin with no improvement in his symptoms. A chest radiograph showed bilateral nodular opacities with a left lower lobar consolidative opacity (Fig 1A, 1B); the patient underwent CT scanning of the chest, which showed areas of nodular infiltration in the lower lobes with tree-in-bud-like opacities. He was referred to a pulmonologist.