Aspergilloma in a hydatid cyst masquerading as pulmonary tuberculosis

• Main Authors: Manu Chopra, C. D. S. Katoch
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2017-01-01
• Series: The Journal of Association of Chest Physicians
• Subjects: Aspergilloma; bronchial artery embolization; echinococcosis; hemoptysis; hydatid cyst
• Online Access: http://www.jacpjournal.org/article.asp?issn=2320-8775;year=2017;volume=5;issue=1;spage=42;epage=45;aulast=Chopra

Aspergilloma is a saprophytic infection that colonizes preexisting lung cavities that presents as a fungal ball. Typically, an aspergilloma develops in cavities formed as a result of diseases such as tuberculosis, sarcoidosis, bronchiectasis, lung abscess, and cavitary neoplasia, but it has also been reported, though rarely, in pulmonary cavities as a consequence of the removal of a hydatid cyst. The clinical features of pulmonary aspergilloma, ruptured hydatid cyst, and tuberculosis are similar in the form of cough, hemoptysis, and low-grade fever. In a developing country like India, wherein pulmonary tuberculosis is the most common cause of a chronic cough with hemoptysis; we present an unusual case of aspergilloma in a ruptured hydatid cyst masquerading as pulmonary tuberculosis.