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A case of azygos lobe is presented. An azygos lobe is an accessory lobe of the lung that may occasionally be confused with a pathological process such as a bulla, lung abscess or neoplasm. Its pathogenesis is discussed, as are the characteristic x-ray features that enable an accurate diagnosis.

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Solitary fibrous tumours of the pleura are rare pleural neoplasms that are distinct from mesothelioma. Most of them are benign, although some behave aggressively; morphological and pathological features are important in distinguishing them from mesothelioma and in predicting clinical behaviour. Solitary fibrous tumours often grow to a large size before causing symptoms, and are characteristically associated with hypertrophic pulmonary osteoarthropathy in up to 20% of cases. In cases of benign lesions, complete resection is usually curative. A case involving a 62-year-old woman who underwent surgical resection of a solitary fibrous tumour of the pleura measuring 25 cm in size is described.

Pure red cell aplasia is a rare cause of anemia, caused by an absence of red blood cell precursors in the bone marrow. It is usually a paraneoplastic syndrome, associated most commonly with large-cell granular lymphocyte leukemia but also thymoma. For patients who present both pure red cell aplasia and thymoma, thymectomy leads to an initial remission of the aplasia in 30% of cases. However, sustained remission may require the addition of medications such as corticosteroids, cyclosporine, or cyclophosphamide. We present a case of pure red cell aplasia associated with a thymoma in an otherwise healthy 80 year-old woman.

A 72 year-old female developed a herpetic esophagitis after 3 d of oral corticotherapy for an acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, presenting as odynophagia and total dysphagia. Biopsies were taken during a first esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) and the patient was referred to the thoracic surgery service with a presumptive diagnosis of esophageal cancer. A second EGD was planned for dilatation, but by that time the stenosis was completely resolved. The biopsies taken during the first EGD revealed multiple herpetic viral inclusions and ulcerations without any dysplasia or neoplasia. In front of a severe esophageal stenosis, one must still exclude the usual differential diagnosis peptic stenosis and cancer. Visualization of endoscopic lesions can suggest the diagnosis but must be promptly confirmed by biopsy, viral culture or polymerase chain reaction. Although immune systemic effects of corticotherapy are well known and herpetic esophagitis occurs most frequently in immunocompromised individuals, this case emphasizes the importance of clinical awareness concerning short courses of corticotherapy for immunocompetent individuals. This article discusses the reactivation process of herpetic infection in this context and addresses its diagnostic and therapeutic issues.