[A case of recurrent bronchogenic cyst 15 years after initial operation]

There are few reports on the postoperative recurrence of bronchogenic cysts. We conducted a re-operation on a 57-year-old man with a bronchogenic cyst 15 years after an initial operation. His history showed an earlier operation for a bronchogenic cyst at the age of 42 at another hospital. 15 years after this initial operation, he suffered from common cold like symptoms, and was referred to our hospital, because of an abnormal shadow on his chest X-ray. A chest CT and MRI revealed an oval tumor just under the right intermediate bronchus. We suspected it was a recurrence of the bronchogenic cyst, and an operation was performed. The cyst was firmly adhered to the lung, and at the upper site of the cyst, a region adjacent to the intermediate bronchus was adhered to the bronchial wall. The histological findings were similar to those of 15 years previously. The cyst wall lined with pseudostratified columnar ciliary epithelium with muscular layer, which led to a diagnosis of a bronchogenic cyst. Congenital cysts, including bronchogenic cysts, are considered to originate in abnormal primordia. If there are remaining abnormal primordia, a recurrence of the disease can occur.