[A bronchial mucous gland adenoma resected by endoscopic procedure]

Surgical resection is usually performed for the treatment of endobronchial tumors. This case describes the use of endoscopic resection as an initial treatment, allowing to spare lung parenchyma.

A patient was admitted to the emergency unit with right lower lobe pneumonia. A thoracic CT-scan and subsequent bronchoscopy revealed an intrabronchial tumor between the right main and intermediate bronchus. Biopsies were non-diagnostic and a PET-scanner did not find any abnormalities. Surgical resection was initially proposed but would have required a right upper lobectomy. The patient had stage 2 (moderate) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (GOLD classification). Because of this, we decided to perform an endoscopic resection to obtain further histology and hopefully achieve total removal. Under conscious sedation, the resection by argon plasma coagulation with a flexible bronchoscope was realized without any complication. The histological diagnosis was a bronchial mucous gland adenoma.

This case emphasizes the role of multidisciplinary discussion when considering suitability of local resection of tumors by an endobronchial procedure rather than a surgical resection.