Question:medium
Cavitatory lesions in the lung are seen in:
Cavitatory lesions in the lung are seen in:
Show Hint
The word primary in option A blocks TB cavitation, so look at the necrotizing organism.
Updated On: Jun 24, 2026
- Primary pulmonary tuberculosis
- Staphylococcal pneumonia
- Pneumoconiosis
- Interstitial lung disease
Show Solution
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
This question asks which condition reliably hollows out lung tissue into a cavity. A cavity forms when tissue dies, liquefies, and is expelled, leaving a thick-walled air space, so the answer must be a condition that destroys lung parenchyma.
Look first at the staphylococcal option. $Staphylococcus$ $aureus$ is a classic necrotizing organism. Its pneumonia is notorious for tearing the lung apart into abscesses, pneumatoceles, and frank cavities, and it does this in post-viral patients, in children, and through septic emboli in injection drug users. That makes it a dependable cause of cavitation.
The tuberculosis choice is a deliberate trap. Yes, TB cavitates, but that happens in the post-primary or reactivation form, with apical thick-walled cavities. The stem specifies $primary$ pulmonary tuberculosis, which instead gives the Ghon complex with hilar nodes and seldom cavitates. The qualifier disqualifies it.
For the remaining two, pneumoconiosis mainly leaves fibrotic nodules and conglomerate masses and only sometimes cavitates in progressive massive fibrosis, while interstitial lung disease gives fibrosis and honeycombing rather than discrete cavities.
Weighing all four, the cleanest cavity-forming answer is staphylococcal pneumonia.
\[\boxed{\text{Staphylococcal pneumonia}}\]
Look first at the staphylococcal option. $Staphylococcus$ $aureus$ is a classic necrotizing organism. Its pneumonia is notorious for tearing the lung apart into abscesses, pneumatoceles, and frank cavities, and it does this in post-viral patients, in children, and through septic emboli in injection drug users. That makes it a dependable cause of cavitation.
The tuberculosis choice is a deliberate trap. Yes, TB cavitates, but that happens in the post-primary or reactivation form, with apical thick-walled cavities. The stem specifies $primary$ pulmonary tuberculosis, which instead gives the Ghon complex with hilar nodes and seldom cavitates. The qualifier disqualifies it.
For the remaining two, pneumoconiosis mainly leaves fibrotic nodules and conglomerate masses and only sometimes cavitates in progressive massive fibrosis, while interstitial lung disease gives fibrosis and honeycombing rather than discrete cavities.
Weighing all four, the cleanest cavity-forming answer is staphylococcal pneumonia.
\[\boxed{\text{Staphylococcal pneumonia}}\]
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