Unilateral tongue atrophy and pulmonary malignancy.

An 82-year-old man was referred to the department of pulmonology with a left-sided pneumothorax, which was seen on a chest X-ray requested by his general practitioner. His medical history included a non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) T1N0M0 in 2009. With the intention to cure, the patient received radiation therapy for the NSCLC in his left lung. However, a few months later, recurrence of the malignancy in the left lung and metastasis to the right lung was observed on follow-up. The patient and his family did not want any further treatment at that time. In the first year, he progressed relatively well but subsequently, he suffered from progressive weight loss. At presentation, 18 months after the diagnosis of pulmonary metastasis, the patient complained of hoarseness. The chest X-ray showed tumour progression as well as a pneumothorax of the left lung. On physical examination, a remarkable finding was observed (figure 1).