A community-acquired lung abscess attributable to odontogenic flora

• Main Authors: Guo W, Gao B, Li L, Gai W, Yang J, Zhang Y, Wang L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2019-08-01
• Series: Infection and Drug Resistance
• Subjects: Community-acquired Lung Abscess; Periodontitis; Odontogenic flora
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/a-community-acquired-lung-abscess-attributable-to-odontogenic-flora-peer-reviewed-article-IDR

Wenjia Guo,1 Bo Gao,1 Li Li,1 Wei Gai,2 Jianghui Yang,3 Yan Zhang,2 Lijun Wang41Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, School of Clinical Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 2National Engineering Research Center for Beijing Biochip Technology, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Pathology, Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, School of Clinical Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 4Clinical Research Center, Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, School of Clinical Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaAbstract: A lung abscess is an infectious pulmonary disease characterized by pus-filled cavity formation and often an air-fluid level. In this article, we described an indolent community-acquired lung abscess suspected as a tumor previously. A 56-year-old male presented with cough and expectoration for 2 months and hemoptysis for 2 weeks. His physical examinations, whole blood count and C-reactive protein level were normal. The chest computed tomography (CT) scan showed a 40×38×39 mm high-density mass in the right upper pulmonary lobe, with irregular borders. The pathology of a CT-guided percutaneous needle aspiration biopsy showed numerous inflammatory cells and bacteria infiltration without tumor lesions. Bacteriological detection of lung tissue revealed the cause was odontogenic flora. A next-generation sequencing demonstrated the etiologic correlation between lung abscess and periodontitis. After a 2-month pathogen-directed oral antibiotics therapy combined with chlorhexidine gargle oral care, this patient showed a remarkable improvement. Periodontitis can be a cause of a lung abscess, which would be taken into account in the treatment regimes preventing infectious recurrence.Keywords: community-acquired lung abscess, periodontitis, odontogenic flora