Multiple pulmonary nodules mimicking metastasis in a case of systemic amyloidosis

Abstract

Amyloidosis is a disorder resulting from the abnormal accumulation of amyloid, a fibrillary protein, in various tissues and organs. Pulmonary amyloidosis can be a part of a systemic process and can mimic other lung diseases which present with multiple pulmonary masses or nodules, such as metastasis. We reported a case of systemic amyloidosis, which is histopathologically confirmed from the nasal lesion, initially presented with multiple lung nodules mimicking pulmonary metastasis but had been stable for years. Pathological study of tissues obtained from three times of percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy (PTNB) failed to show specific features. The findings on chest radiographs, contrast enhanced thoracic computed tomography (CT) and histology were reviewed and discussed.