[Pulmonary hamartoma. Apropos of 49 surgically treated cases]

A series of 49 patients with pulmonary hamartoma subjected to operation is described. 28 patients were male and 21 female, with a mean age of 49.8 years. Most cases were discovered on routine chest films. Six patients had radiologic changes produced by obstruction, while 43 had a rounded peripheral opacity. Fine calcifications were present in four cases. In no case was diagnosis achieved by bronchoscopy, whereas one of the more recent cases was diagnosed by percutaneous fine needle biopsy. Sinner has shown that this last technique can establish diagnosis in most cases. As such tumors are invariably benign and grow slowly, diagnosis by percutaneous biopsy renders operation unnecessary: periodic follow up only is required.