Actinomycosis. A cause of pulmonary and mediastinal mass lesions in children
S. M. Spinola, R. A. Bell and F. W. Henderson
Two patients with intrathoracic actinomycosis were examined. One child was
asymptomatic and had a slowly expanding lesion in the left upper lobe. The
other child had a chronic illness with back pain, weight loss, amenorrhea,
and a posterior mediastinal mass. Establishing the cause of these lesions
and making the distinction between a neoplastic process and infection were
particularly difficult in both cases. Intrathoracic actinomycosis should be
considered in the differential diagnosis of pulmonary and mediastinal mass
lesions.
