Sclerosing pneumocytoma mixed with a typical carcinoid: a case report and review of literature

Introduction and importance: The coexistence of sclerosing pneumocytoma (SP) and typical carcinoid (TC) within the same lesion is extremely rare. Case presentation: The patient is a 66-year-old woman who was incidentally found to have a 2.2 cm nodule in the right upper lobe during a routine physical examination using computed tomography. A wedge resection of the right upper lobe via thoracoscopy was performed, confirming that the tumor was a mixture of SP and TC by immunohistochemistry. No tumor recurrence or metastasis was observed during the follow-up period of 15 months. Clinical discussion: A case of SP and TC coexisting in the same mass caused the diagnostic challenges and required clinicopathologic correlation analysis because of the rarity. Conclusion: We reviewed the relevant literature to enhance our understanding of the pathologic diagnosis and pathogenesis of this case and to provide valuable insights for the differential diagnosis of pulmonary nodules.