At an isolated weather station in the central United States, a technician emerges from a small brick shed grasping a balloon. It's not just any birthday party balloon, mind you, but a massive, white sphere more than 5 feet (1.5 meters) in diameter.
Lung abscess can also be caused by the spread of other infections from the liver, abdominal cavity, or open chest wounds. Rarely, AIDS patients can develop lung abscess from Pneumocystis carinii and other organisms that take advantage of a weakened immune system. Lung abscess is usually slow to develop.
Presenting symptoms include cough, purulent sputum, fever, chest pain and dyspnea.1. Ameuille (1923) first observed the association of pulmonary abscess and lung cancer. In 8â17% of patients, an underlying lung cancer is the cause of a cavitary pulmonary infiltrate or pulmonary abscess.