Abstract
We present the case of a 41-year-old man with known large cell lung cancer who had undergone left pneumonectomy 7 months prior and who presented with a large intramuscular mass involving the posterior left thigh and upper calf. This thigh mass was ultimately surgically explored, and specimens yielded both Escherichia coli organisms and cells reflecting a skeletal muscle metastasis from the patient’s known lung cancer. The patient was also found to have a rectal metastasis from his lung cancer. Intramuscular abscesses produced by gastrointestinal tract flora are a well-known presentation of colon cancer. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of the simultaneous occurrence of a skeletal muscle metastasis and an E. coli abscess in the same anatomic location. We believe the patient’s rectal metastasis may have been the intermediate step in this process.
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Martinez, G.E., Coursey, C.A., Dodd, L. et al. Simultaneous thigh muscle metastasis from lung cancer and Escherichia coli gas producing myonecrosis. Skeletal Radiol 37, 763–766 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-008-0489-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-008-0489-5