Cavitary lung disease.

Abstract

A 20-year-old female Ethiopian refugee presented with a 6-month history of cough and progressive left shoulder tip pain. After extensive investigation, which failed to demonstrate a cause, she proceeded to thoracotomy, where a 25-cm length of tubing was found that had perforated the left hemidiaphragm and had extended into the apex of the left lung. This appeared to have arisen as a complication of a termination of pregnancy performed years previously. This represents the first reported case of significant pulmonary trauma arising as a complication of a termination of pregnancy.