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Updated: Apr 27, 2026
Bronchial Thermoplasty: A Novel Therapeutic Approach to Severe Asthma
Published on: November 4, 2010
[Mediastinal tumour in children misdiagnosed as bronchial asthma]
T Ankermann1, A Claviez, M Suttorp
1Klinik für Allgemeine Pädiatrie, Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel. ankermann@pediatrics.uni-kiel.de
History:
Three school children (2 girls and 1 boy, aged 9-15 years) complained about exercise-induced shortness of breath and stridor. The children were treated with inhalation steroids, one of them with systemic steroids, without a significant effect.
Investigations:
Because of lack of treatment response a chest X-ray was done. In all cases a mediastinal mass was visible. No radiological signs of an obstructive pulmonary disease was demonstrated. In none of the three cases did a pulmonary function tests demonstrate an obstructive pulmonary disease.
Diagnosis, Treatment, And Course:
Bone marrow aspiration in one girl showed an acute lymphoblastic leukemia of T-cell immunophenotype with a large mediastinal lymphoma. Lymph node biopsy in the boy demonstrated a nodular sclerosing subtype of Hodgkin's disease. In the other girl a ganglioneuroma was found.
Conclusion:
In children and adolescents a chest radiograph and pulmonary function tests should be performed if history and clinical signs are suggestive of bronchial asthma, before a specific inhalative or systemic treatment is started.
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