We present the case of a 35-year-old patient without pathological history who developed hemopneumothorax due to altitude barotrauma during a commercial airline flight. The computed tomography (CT) of the chest identified the presence of right hydropneumothorax and emphysema “blebs” and bubbles. After the therapeutic insertion of a drain tube, the patient returned to the country by land transport. Three weeks later, he was diagnosed with right-sided pleurisy based on a CT scan with contrast material. A surgical intervention was then performed, and three biopsy samples were taken; the histopathological result highlighted suggestive elements for the diagnosis of desquamative interstitial pneumonia (DIP).

Pulmonary disease caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria represents an important diagnostic challenge, particularly in immunocompromised patients, in whom clinical and radiologic findings may mimic malignancy. We report the case of a 70-year-old woman with myelofibrosis treated with ruxolitinib who developed a tumor-like lesion in the left upper lobe on computed tomography, highly suggestive of lung cancer. Despite broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy, the lesion persisted; bronchoscopy did not yield diagnostic findings, and CT-guided transthoracic biopsy demonstrated necrotizing granulomatous inflammation without evidence of malignancy. Microbiological analysis subsequently identified Mycobacterium avium, and targeted antimycobacterial therapy led to clinical and radiologic improvement. This case highlights that pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacterial infection may present as a pseudotumoral lesion and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of mass-like pulmonary opacities, particularly in patients receiving Janus kinase inhibitor therapy.