Ankylosing Spondylitis

  • Right upper lobe lesion progressing to cavity and clearing over a few months

  • Spine film: Bamboo spine

  • Cervical spine

Young male smoker from a nursing home with ankylosing spondylitis. He also had pulmonary Osteoarthropathy, making the consideration of cancer lung strong. His sputum was repeatedly negative for TB and cancer cells. This was before the days of fiberoptic bronchoscopy. You could not consider rigid bronchoscopy due to the stiff bent neck. Sequential films show spontaneous regression of disease. Bilateral non-specific upper lobe disease can be seen in this disease, and radiologically cannot be distinguished between TB or when unilateral with cancer.

 
Bamboo spine