ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.

Sec. Clinical Infectious Diseases

Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1590220

This article is part of the Research TopicExploring Clinical Application Scenarios of Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing for Pathogen DiagnosisView all 3 articles

Rapidly Progressive Pulmonary Abscess Initially Misdiagnosed as Lung Cancer: The Role of Peptostreptococcus stomatis and Parvimonas micra

Provisionally accepted
Hang  HuHang HuKui  LiKui LiZhidong  JinZhidong JinBicui  LiuBicui Liu*Kaijin  WangKaijin Wang*
  • Bishan hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Pulmonary abscess is a serious infectious disease characterized by localized lung tissue necrosis, primarily caused by anaerobic or facultative anaerobic bacterial infections. While the Streptococcus anginosus group (SAG) is a well-established pathogen in pulmonary abscess formation, recent findings suggest that strict anaerobes such as Peptostreptococcus stomatis and Parvimonas micra can also contribute to deep-seated infections. However, their role in rapidly progressive pulmonary abscesses has not been previously documented.Here, we present a case of a rapidly progressive pulmonary abscess caused by Peptostreptococcus stomatis and Parvimonas micra in an immunocompetent patient, initially misdiagnosed as lung cancer. This case highlights the importance of differentiating infectious lung lesions from malignancies and underscores the clinical utility of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) in diagnosing rare anaerobic infections, offering valuable insights for precise diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.

Keywords: Pulmonary abscess, Immunocompetent patient, Peptostreptococcus stomatis, Parvimonas micra, Rapidly progressive infection

Received: 09 Mar 2025; Accepted: 28 May 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Hu, Li, Jin, Liu and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Bicui Liu, Bishan hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
Kaijin Wang, Bishan hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China

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