At an isolated weather station in the central United States, a technician emerges from a small brick shed grasping a balloon. It's not just any birthday party balloon, mind you, but a massive, white sphere more than 5 feet (1.5 meters) in diameter.
Most frequently, the lung abscess arises as a complication of aspiration pneumonia caused by mouth anaerobes. The patients who develop lung abscess are predisposed to aspiration and commonly have periodontal disease.
Cavities in the lung may be caused by diseases such as: 1  Tuberculosis. 2  Coccidioidomycosis. 3  Cystic fibrosis. 4  Histoplasmosis. Lung abscess.  Lung 1  cancer. Sarcoidosis.