Role of endobronchial electrocautery in management of neoplastic central airway obstruction: Initial experience with seven cases.

Background. Central airway obstruction (CAO) due to malignant and benign conditions is common. Tumour ablation by various techniques helps effective palliation of symptoms in such patients. Tumour ablation using endobronchial electrocautery (EBEC) with flexible bronchoscope (FB) is an established procedure. However, there is paucity of data from India on this topic. Methods. EBEC was performed in seven patients with CAO; six of these patients had malignant (non-small cell carcinoma) and one had benign aetiology (tracheal fibro-epithelial polyp) as the cause of CAO. Pre- and post-procedure assessment was done with the help of Speiser’s symptomatic scoring. Results. Mean age of the patients was 52.9±7.0 years; there were five males. All the patients had symptomatic relief after the procedure; in five of them the improvement in symptom scores was significant. No major complication was encountered in any patient. Conclusions. EBEC can be a safe, effective and cost-effective tool for palliation in patients with benign or malignant CAO. It is especially beneficial for centres where cost of bronchoscopic laser and cryotherapy is prohibitive.

Tumor glômico endobrônquico com atelectasia de lobo superior direito / Bronchial glomus tumor with right upper lobe atelectasis

Tumores glômicos são raras neoplasias benignas de tecidos moles. Relatamos o caso de um paciente de 32 anos de idade que apresentava atelectasia em lobo superior direito devido a um tumor endobrônquico. O paciente foi submetido a lobectomia superior direita e broncoplastia em cunha. O diagnóstico patológico foi de tumor glômico endobrônquico. Até onde sabemos, essa apresentação com atelectasia em lobo superior direito nunca foi relatada. O tumor glômico deve ser considerado no diagnóstico diferencial de lesões endobrônquicas que causam atelectasia lobar.

Glomus tumors are uncommon benign soft tissue neoplasms. We report the case of a 32-year-old male who presented with right upper lobe atelectasis due to an endobronchial tumor. The patient underwent right upper lobectomy and wedge bronchoplasty. The pathological diagnosis was bronchial glomus tumor. To our knowledge, this presentation (with right upper lobe atelectasis) has never before been reported. Glomus tumor should be considered in the differential diagnosis of endobronchial lesions causing lobar atelectasis.

Interventional Management of Esophagorespiratory Fistula

An esophagorespiratory fistula (ERF) is an often fatal consequence of esophageal or bronchogenic carcinomas. The preferred treatment is placement of esophageal and/or airway stents. Stent placement must be performed as quickly as possible since patients with ERFs are at a high risk for aspiration pneumonia. In this review, choice of stents and stenting area, fistula reopening and its management, and the long-term outcome in the interventional management of malignant ERFs are considered. Lastly, a review of esophagopulmonary fistulas will also be provided.

A 12-year-old girl with hodgkin’s disease presenting as a non-resolving pneumonia and an endobronchial nodule.

The presence of a non-resolving pneumonia warrants the suspicion of a possible malignancy. While pulmonary involvement in Hodgkin’s disease can present as a non-resolving pneumonia, the clinical clues of dyspnoea, stridor and wheeze point to a possible endobronchial involvement. A bronchoscopy in such a situation can be valuable for diagnosis, and can aid in staging of the disease. The true incidence of endobronchial involvement in Hodgkin’s disease is not known, but when diagnosed early and treated appropriately, the prognosis is usually good, and a complete cure is possible.

Endobronchial leiomyoma: an unusual non-defining neoplasm in a patient with AIDS / Leiomioma endobronquial: rara neoplasia não definida em paciente com AIDS

Smooth muscle neoplasms are more frequent in human immunodeficiency infected children than in HIV seropositive adults. Endobronchial leiomyoma is a rare benign tumor in HIV infected adult patients. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of these tumors. Here we describe an adult patient with HIV infection with atelectasis of the left upper pulmonary lobe as the first clinical expression of an intrabronchial leiomyoma. In this case, we can not show the association with EBV. Our report suggests that smooth muscle tumors as leiomyoma should be included in the differential diagnosis of endobronchial masses in AIDS patients.

Neoplasmas da musculatura lisa são mais freqüentes em crianças infectadas pelo vírus da imunodeficiência humana do que em adultos HIV-soropositivos. Leiomioma endobronquial é um tumor benigno em pacientes adultos infectados por HIV. Vírus Epstein-Barr (EBV) tem sido implicado na patogenia destes tumores. Descrevemos paciente adulto infectado pelo HIV com atelectasia do lobo pulmonar superior esquerdo como primeira manifestação clínica de leiomioma intrabronquial. Neste caso não pudemos demonstrar a associação com EBV. Nosso relato sugere que tumores de musculatura lisa como leiomioma deveriam ser incluídos no diagnóstico diferencial de massas endobronquiais em pacientes com AIDS.

Pitfalls in the diagnosis of Cushing's syndrome: [review]

Among endocrine disorders, Cushing's syndrome (CS) is certainly one of the most challenging to endocrinologists due to the difficulties that often appear during investigation. The diagnosis of CS involves two steps: confirmation of hypercortisolism and determination of its etiology. Biochemical confirmation of the hypercortisolaemic state must be established before any attempt at differential diagnosis. Failure to do so will result in misdiagnosis, inappropriate treatment, and poor management. It should also be kept in mind that hypercortisolism may occur in some patients with depression, alcoholism, anorexia nervosa, generalized resistance to glucocorticoids, and in late pregnancy. Moreover, exogenous or iatrogenic hypercortisolism should always be excluded. The three most useful tests to confirm hypercortisolism are the measurement of 24-h urinary free cortisol levels, low-dose dexamethasone-suppression tests, and determination of midnight serum cortisol or late-night salivary cortisol. However, none of these tests is perfect, each one has different sensitivities and specificities, and several are usually needed to provide a better diagnostic accuracy. The greatest challenge in the investigation of CS involves the differentiation between Cushing's disease and ectopic ACTH syndrome. This task requires the measurement of plasma ACTH levels, non-invasive dynamic tests (high-dose dexamethasone suppression test and stimulation tests with CRH or desmopressin), and imaging studies. None of these tests had 100 percent specificity and their use in combination is usually necessary. Bilateral inferior petrosal sinus sampling is mainly indicated when non-invasive tests do not allow a diagnostic definition. In the present paper, the most important pitfalls in the investigation of CS are reviewed.

Entre as doenças endócrinas, a síndrome de Cushing (SC) é certamente uma das mais desafiadoras para o endocrinologista, devido às dificuldades que comumente surgem durante a investigação. O diagnóstico de SC envolve dois passos: a confirmação do hipercortisolismo e a determinação de sua etiologia. A confirmação bioquímica do excesso de cortisol precisa ser estabelecida antes de qualquer tentativa de diagnóstico diferencial; caso contrário, poderá resultar em diagnóstico incorreto, tratamento impróprio e manejo insuficiente. Deve também ser lembrado que hipercortisolismo pode ocorrer em certos pacientes com depressão, alcoolismo, anorexia nervosa, resistência generalizada aos glicocorticóides e no final da gravidez. Além disso, hipercortisolismo exógeno ou iatrogênico deverá ser sempre excluído. Os três testes mais úteis para a confirmação do hipercortisolismo são: a medida do cortisol livre em urina de 24 h, os testes de supressão com dexametasona (TSD) em doses baixas e a determinação do cortisol sérico à meia-noite ou do cortisol salivar no final da noite. Contudo, nenhum deles é perfeito, cada um com sua sensibilidade e especificidade, sendo vários deles usualmente necessários para fornecer uma melhor acurácia diagnóstica. O maior desafio na investigação da SC envolve a diferenciação entre a doença de Cushing e a síndrome do ACTH ectópico. Esta tarefa requer a medida dos níveis plasmáticos de ACTH, testes dinâmicos não-invasivos (TSD com doses altas e testes de estímulo com CRH ou desmopressina) e estudos de imagem. Nenhum desses testes tem 100 por cento de especificidade e muitas vezes é necessário seu uso combinado. Amostragem venosa do seio petroso inferior está indicada principalmente quando os testes não-invasivos não permitem uma definição diagnóstica. Neste artigo, revisaremos as mais importantes armadilhas na investigação da SC.

Bronchial adenoma presenting with chronic asthma and obstructive pneumonia: a case report.

A rare case of primary pulmonary neoplasm is reported. The patient was a 38-year-old woman presenting with obstructive pneumonia. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy revealed an endobronchial mass obstructing the left main bronchus: a reddish polypoid mass which bled on contract that was suggestive of bronchial adenoma. The patient also had a long-standing history of bronchial asthma and hemoptysis and the delay in establishing the eventured diagnosis was caused by the minor symptoms mimicking those of asthma. A persistent restrictive lung and the presentation of obstructive pneumonia were important clues which warranted further investigation by computed tomography (CT) scan and bronchoscopy. The patient underwent rigid bronchoscopy with CO2-laser ablation under general anesthesia. Histopathology confirmed a bronchial adenoma. The clinical response was excellent. Bronchial adenoma should be considered in young patients presenting with asthma, hemoptysis and obstructive pneumonia. Bronchoscopic CO2-laser ablation is an effective treatment and provides an alternative to aggressive thoracotomy.

Postbronchoscopy expectoration of tumour tissue in lung cancer.

A case of undifferentiated giant cell type bronchogenic carcinoma in an old man is reported. Following bronchoscopy, the patient expectorated tumour mass tissue in his sputum and was relieved of breathlessness to a great extent.

Ectopic ACTH syndrome due to bronchial carcinoid tumour--a case report.

A patient is reported who had Cushing's syndrome and carcinoid tumour of the bronchus. The case illustrates the difficulty in preoperative localization of the ectopic ACTH source and the surgical management of such patients.

Fiberoptic bronchoscopy in patients with haemoptysis and normal chest roentgenograms.

Over the last 10 years, 53 patients with hemoptysis, but with a normal chest radiograph underwent diagnostic fiberoptic bronchoscopy. Forty-three patients did not show any abnormal findings, the site of bleeding could be localised in five and non-specific mucosal changes were seen in the remaining five patients. Thirty-two patients were followed up clinically for a 3-18 months period. One patient on follow-up developed tubercular pleural effusion. Bronchogenic carcinoma was not detected in any of these patients during the procedure or at follow up. A review of literature revealed a 3 per cent incidence of bronchogenic carcinoma and the risk factors associated with higher incidence were age above 40 years, cigarette smoking and a longer duration of hemoptysis. We conclude that fiberoptic bronchoscopy has little role in this relatively benign condition (hemoptysis) especially when the risk factors are absent.

Leiomioma endobronquial como origen de neumonía recidivante en la infancia / Endobronchial leiomyoma as a cause of recurrent pneumonia in infancy

Se presenta un caso de un niño de 11 años portador de neumonía recidivante originada por leiomioma subsegmental bronquial. Se actualiza la casuística mundial de las observaciones pediátricas, a la ves que se vierten nuevos conceptos referidos al caso descripto