Endobronchial Aspergilloma in a 30-year-old Man

Fungal colonization of a pneumonectomy stump

A 59-year-old woman developed mild recurring hemoptysis once a week for several months after a fall with trauma to the chest. Sixteen years earlier she had undergone a right pneumonectomy at a hospital elsewhere for sequelae of pulmonary tuberculosis. Bronchoscopy, performed because of the recent hemoptysis, showed material in the pneumonectomy stump. The material had a gelatinous appearance, green color with a pale margin, and oblique striations. The material was removed by grasping with forceps and withdrawing the bronchoscope. Grocott methanamine silver stain was positive for septate, nonpigmented fungal organisms. Anatomic pathology microscopy also showed mucous, acute inflammatory cells, and necrotic tissue. Cytopathology of washings from the bronchial stump showed rare degenerated benign bronchial epithelial cells and fungal hyphae. Acid fast bacilli smears and cultures were negative. Bacterial cultures showed 3+ Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The patient had no further hemoptysis.

Endobronchial aspergilloma: report of 10 cases and literature review

PURPOSE

A retrospective investigation of the clinical and radiologic features as well as the bronchoscopic appearance was carried out in patients with endobronchial aspergilloma.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Ten patients with endobronchial aspergilloma diagnosed by bronchoscopy and histological examination were identified at the Gyeongsang University Hospital of Korea, from May 2003 to May 2009.

RESULTS

The patients included 9 men and 1 woman, and the age of the patients ranged from 36 to 76 (median, 58 years). The associated diseases or conditions were: previous pulmonary tuberculosis in 7 patients, lung cancer in 2 patients, pulmonary resection in 1 patient, and foreign body of the bronchus in 1 patient. The chest radiologic finding showed fibrotic changes as a consequence of previous tuberculosis infection in 6 patients and a mass-like lesion in 2 patients. Two patients had a co-existing fungus ball, and an endobronchial lesion was suspected in only 2 patients on the CT scan. The bronchoscopic appearance was a whitish to yellow necrotic mass causing bronchial obstruction in 7 patients, foreign body with adjacent granulation tissue and whitish necrotic tissue in 1 patient, whitish necrotic tissue at an anastomosis site in 1 patient, and a protruding mass with whitish necrotic tissue in 1 patient.

CONCLUSION

An endobronchial aspergilloma is a rare presentation of pulmonary aspergilosis and is usually incidentally found in immunocompetent patients with underlying lung disease. It usually appears as a necrotic mass causing bronchial obstruction on bronchoscopy and can be confirmed by biopsy.

Chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis

Chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis is one of the forms of pulmonary aspergillosis typically found in mildly immunocompromised patients. We report the case of a female patient with complaints of chronic productive cough, fever and asthenia. She reported previous corticosteroid use. A CT scan of the chest revealed consolidation with interposed cavitation in the right upper lobe. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy revealed purulent fluid within the tracheobronchial tree and an endobronchial exophytic lesion. The results of the biopsy of that lesion and the transbronchial biopsy were consistent with aspergillosis. Based on the clinical, radiological and histopathological findings, the patient was diagnosed with chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis. Treated with itraconazole, the patient presented a favorable clinical-radiological evolution.