[Surgical treatment of bronchial adenomas]

The authors make an analysis of the experience acquired in the Clinic of Thoracic Surgery of Bucharest, based on interventions carried out in 42 cases of bronchial adenoma hospitalized between 1962 and 1976. The fact is stressed that in none of the 42 operated patients was the carcinoid syndrome encountered with any of its specific manifestations. Also on the basis of the experience obtained the bronchologic criteria for benignity of this type of tumour (absence of the infiltration in the mucosa, surrounding the tumour) is considered as non-significant because there are frequently areas of malignant transformation inside the tumour itself, or at its lower pole that cannot be explored by bronchoscopy. Surgical treatment of bronchial adenoma included a wide range of techniques, from simple lobectomies to bronchoanastomotic interventions, and resections of the trachea. The study of postoperative results showed a good prognosis and survivals of appreciable duration only when the intervention was carried out in the I-st and the II-nd stages of the disease. This also stresses the necessity for an early diagnosis and rapid surgery in these bronchial adenomatous tumours (most of which are of the carcinoid type).