Journal Information
Vol. 50. Issue 2.
Pages 78-79 (February 2014)
Vol. 50. Issue 2.
Pages 78-79 (February 2014)
Clinical Image
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Endobronchial Lipoma: An Unusual Cause of Bronchial Obstruction
Lipoma endobronquial: una causa infrecuente de obstrucción bronquial
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Lirios Sacristán Boua,
Corresponding author
lirios_sacristan@yahoo.es

Corresponding author.
, Encarnación Fernández Robledoa, Francisco Peña Blasb
a Servicio de Neumología, Hospital General de Tomelloso, Tomelloso, Ciudad Real, Spain
b Medicina Familiar y Comunitaria, Centro de Salud de Pedro Muñoz, Pedro Muñoz, Ciudad Real, Spain
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Endobronchial lipomas are benign tumours that account for 0.1%–0.4% of all bronchial tumours. They often present with a clinical picture of asthma and can be misdiagnosed as malignancies.1 The case of 43-year-old woman with a 2-year history of poorly controlled asthma and slow-resolving right lower lobe pneumonia is described. Chest CT showed the right lower bronchus occupied by fatty content material. Fibreoptic bronchoscopy revealed it to be a highly vascularised, rounded, yellowish tumour with smooth outlines that almost completely obstructed the entrance to the right lung base (Fig. 1). The patient was referred to the thoracic surgery department for treatment, and the histology report confirmed that the lesion was formed by groups of adipocytes.

Fig. 1.

Bronchoscopy image of a shiny, yellowish polypoid lesion that was determined on histology to be a lipoma.

(0.26MB).

These tumours are often diagnosed late, due to their slow growth and unspecific symptoms, of which cough is the most common. A delayed diagnosis leads to late treatment, increasing morbidity due to the distal obstruction caused by the lesion.2 Many treatment options, ranging from endobronchial techniques (YAG laser, cryotherapy, etc.) to surgical resection, are available and intervention should be planned on a case-by-case basis by a multidisciplinary team.

Funding

None.

Conflict of Interests

The authors declare no conflict of interests.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr. P. León Atance and Dr. J. Valer Corellano, from the Thoracic Surgery and Anatomical Pathology Departments of the Hospital General Universitario de Albacete, respectively, for their collaboration.

References
[1]
F. Irani, B. Kumar, P. Reddy, R. Narwal-Chadha, R. Kasmani, J. Tita.
An endobronchial lipoma mimicking asthma and malignancy.
Prim Care Respir J, 19 (2010), pp. 281-283
[2]
S. Alazemi, A. Majid, A.I. Ruiz, D. Litmanovich, D. Feller-Kopman, A. Ernst.
An elderly woman with chronic dyspnea and endobronchial lesion.
Chest, 137 (2010), pp. 460-466

Please cite this article as: Sacristán Bou L, Fernández Robledo E, Peña Blas F. Lipoma endobronquial: una causa infrecuente de obstrucción bronquial. Arch Bronconeumol. 2014;50:78–79.

Copyright © 2013. SEPAR
Archivos de Bronconeumología
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