Bronchogenic cysts of the lung: report of 29 cases

Intrapulmonary bronchogenic cysts are congenital anomalies of the tracheobronchial tree and foregut. The aim of this retrospective study was to review the diagnosis, clinical and histological features, operative techniques, outcomes and follow-up of intrapulmonary bronchogenic cysts treated in a single institute.

Twenty-nine patients with intrapulmonary bronchogenic cysts were treated surgically between 1990 and 2005. There were 17 female and 12 male patients and their ages ranged from 7 to 68 years. Patients were divided into two groups according to surgical procedure. Resection (lobectomy or wedge resection) was performed on Group I (n=18), and partial excision with de-epithelisation was performed on Group II (n=11).

Twenty-five patients (86.2%) were symptomatic. Cough and sputum were the most common symptoms. Twenty-four of the 29 BCs were simple cysts (82.7%) whereas 5 (17.3%) were complicated cysts. Postoperative hospital stay was 4.55+/-0.86 days in group I and 6.54+/-3.34 days in group II (P=0.172). Complications in Group I were pneumonia in one case and wound infection in two cases; prolonged air leakage were observed in two cases of Group II. No statistical difference was determined between the complication rates of the two groups (P=0.91). However a significant difference was determined between the complication rates of simple and complicated cysts (P=0.026). Two cases in Group II showed recurrence, whereas no recurrence occurred in Group I. (P=0.065) No postoperative mortality was observed in any of the groups.

All bronchogenic cysts should be treated surgically. We believe that partial excision with de-epithelisation may be an alternative to resection in symptomatic patients with limited respiratory capacity.