Primary lung cancer arising from the wall of a giant bulla in which positron emission tomography was useful for preoperative diagnosis

We report a case of lung cancer arising from the wall of a giant bulla. A 58-year-old man consulted a physician because of bloody sputum. Chest computed tomography (CT) revealed a left upper giant bulla with partial thickness of the wall. Cytology of both sputum and transbronchial brushing was negative at that time. After 6 months follow-up CT scans showed more thickness of the wall, and positron emission tomography (PET) revealed high accumulation of fluorodeoxyglucose in the thickened wall. Because lung cancer was highly suspected, we performed an operation without a definitive diagnosis. The postoperative pathological diagnosis was large cell carcinoma arising from the wall of a giant bulla. Because a preoperative diagnosis is difficult in the case of lung carcinoma associated with bullous disease due to the lack of a characteristic radiological appearance and the difficulty of pathological examination, we emphasize that PET is a useful diagnostic tool.