Case Report of a Patient Presenting with Pyrexia of Unknown Origin (PUO): Enteric Fever with Lung Adenocarcinoma

Abstract

Adenocarcinoma is the most common type of lung cancer, accounting for approximately one-half of lung cancer cases. Patient can present with symptoms such as cough, fever, dyspnea, chest pain, night sweats, anorexia, weight loss and weakness. Enteric fever is a systemic disease which is characterized by fever and abdominal pain and caused by Salmonella typhi or Salmonella paratyphi, usually seen in areas of poor sanitation and hygiene. Fever is documented at presentation in majority of cases of salmonella infection. The co-existing of Salmonella typhi bacteraemia and adenocarcinoma lung is uncommon in clinical practice. We report a case of an individual who presented with fever of unknown origin and later diagnosed with Adenocarcinoma lung, and during the evaluation of fever was incidentally found to have Salmonella typhi infection. This rare clinical association presenting only with fever as symptom is a diagnostic challenge for the clinicians and we would like to highlight the importance of extensive workup, early diagnosis and initiation of appropriate treatment for such rare clinical scenarios.