Pulmonary artery sarcoma mimicking pneumonia: case report and literature review

Pulmonary artery sarcoma is a highly malignant and very rare tumor with a high rate of misdiagnosis. We present a case of a patient who complained of recurring fever for six months. He was diagnosed with pneumonia in a tertiary hospital in Nanjing and treated for more than one month, and was admitted with an initial diagnosis of pneumonia to our hospital. Pulmonary CT Angiography (CTPA) demonstrated pulmonary embolism. Until positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) was performed, the patient was suspected to have pulmonary artery sarcoma (PAS). According to the histopathology from total left lung resection, he was eventually diagnosed with PAS and recovered very well. The prognosis of PAS depends very closely on early surgical treatment, and therefore physicians must be aware of PAS and grasp the best treatment opportunity.