A Rare Case of Non-Small Cell Carcinoma of Lung Presenting as Miliary Mottling

Abstract

Miliary mottling on chest radiography is seen in miliary tuberculosis, certain fungal infections, sarcoidosis, coal miner's pneumoconiosis, silicosis, hemosiderosis, fibrosing alveolitis, acute extrinsic allergic alveolitis, pulmonary eosinophilic syndrome, pulmonary alveolar proteinosis, and rarely in hematogenous metastases from the primary cancers of the thyroid, kidney, trophoblasts, and some sarcomas. Although very infrequent, miliary mottling can be seen in primary lung cancers. Herein, we report the case of a 28-year-old female with chest X-ray showing miliary mottling. Thoracic computed tomography (CT) features were suggestive of tuberculoma with miliary tuberculosis. CT-guided fine needle aspiration cytology confirmed the diagnosis as lower-lobe, left lung non-small cell carcinoma (adenocarcinoma). It is rare for the non-small cell carcinoma of the lung to present as miliary mottling. The rarity of our case lies in the fact that a young, non-smoking female with miliary mottling was diagnosed with non-small cell carcinoma of the lung.