Diagnosis of a space-occupying lesion of the lung by pulmonary function tests.

A 13-year-old girl was referred to the pulmonary clinic by her pediatrician for a nonproductive cough and abnormal spirometry and chest radiograph. The patient had been well until 4 weeks earlier, when she developed an upper respiratory tract infection characterized by sinus congestion, sore throat, nonproductive cough, and low-grade fevers. Her symptoms all resolved after a few days except for the cough, which was persistent and raised concern about residual bronchial hyperresponsiveness, so spirometry with bronchodilator testing was conducted (Table 1 and Fig. 1).