A case of multiple atypical adenomatous hyperplasia of the lung detected by computed tomography

Multiple atypical adenomatous hyperplasia (AAH) of both lungs in a 72-year-old male, detected by computed tomography, is reported. The lesions of the right lung were resected for diagnosis via video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). The resected specimen had 22 AAH lesions up to 10 mm in size. For nine of these lesions, the expressions of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), c-erbB-2 oncoprotein and p53 gene product were examined by immunohistochemistry and the loss of heterozygosity (LOH) on chromosomes was investigated by polymerase chain reaction analysis. These lesions showed a variety of expressions for CEA, c-erbB-2 and p53 oncoprotein. Three of the nine lesions showed LOH on chromosome 13q, although this was not exhibited in the largest one. These results indicate that each AAH in this case has independent genetic abnormalities and is multicentric.