A 62-Year-Old Woman With Cough, Dyspnea, and Diffuse Lung Nodules

Abstract

A 62-year-old woman came to our hospital with worsening cough and dyspnea over the preceding week, during which time she had been treated with azithromycin and prednisone for suspected pneumonia. She had no fever, chills, or sweats, but her cough had become productive of clear to blood-tinged phlegm during the interval. Medical history was significant for insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and OSA. She had quit smoking 44 years earlier and had no history of lung disease. She was a bank teller residing in southeastern Minnesota and described no relevant inhalational or environmental exposures, drug use, aspiration, or travels preceding her illness.

Keywords: bronchiolitis; centrilobular nodules; chest CT scan; lung biopsy; nucleic acid probe; pneumonia; respiratory failure; respiratory syncytial virus; tree-in-bud; viral.