A Case of Tracheal Hamartoma / 결핵

BACKGROUND: Tracheal hamartoma is a very rare cause of upper airway obstruction. Its clinical features can mimic medical conditions, such as bronchial asthma, chronic bronchitis, and so on. CASE: This report presents the case of a 65 year old man whose major symptom was dyspnea. We found a tumor in his distal tracheal lumen, and the tumor was removed with success using rigid bronchoscope. The tumor was histologically proven to be a hamartoma, and his symptoms were much improved. CONCLUSION: It is important to distinguish it from other conditions because medical management is often not helpful. surgical correction-with or without thoracotomy-is inevitable.

Inflammatory pseudotumor of the lung in a child with mycoplasma pneumonia

A case of inflammatory pseudotumor of the lung occurring in a six-year-old boy is reported with clinicopathologic findings, including its ultrastructure. The patient had had frequent upper respiratory tract infections, and one and half year before the discovery of the lung mass, he suffered from pneumonia of the right lung, which was serologically proven to be a mycoplasma pneumoniae infection. Exploratory thoracotomy revealed a large mediastinal mass that was removed together with the right middle and lower lobes of the lung. The mass arose from the lung with an endobronchial element. Microscopically, the mass was composed of a variety of inflammatory and mesenchymal cells, including plasma cells, histiocytes, lymphocytes, and fibroblast-like spindle cells. Ultrastructurally, the spindle-shaped mesenchymal cells were either fibroblasts or myofibroblasts. At the time of diagnosis of the inflammatory pseudotumor of the lung, the serum titer of antimycoplasma antibody rose again, and the lung parenchyma adjacent to the mass showed interstitial pneumonia with features of bronchiolitis obliterans. The present case suggests that the inflammatory pseudotumor of the lung could be a postinflammatory lesion associated with mycoplasma pneumoniae infection.