Multiple endo bronchial lipoma: a rare case report

Endobronchial Lipoma: A Rare Cause of Bronchial Stenosis or Obstruction

Endobronchial lipoma (EL) is a rare benign tumor characterized by tracheobronchial smooth-surfaced mass, often resulting in bronchial obstruction without standard guidelines for management. This study seeks to clarify the clinical features and interventions of EL, aiming to improve its diagnosis and outcomes. A retrospective review was conducted on 28516 outpatients treated between January 2015 and December 2019 at the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Air Force Medical University to collect patients diagnosed with EL. Their clinical, bronchoscopic, chest imaging, and histopathological features along with management were analyzed. Among the patients reviewed, nine were histopathologically diagnosed with EL, comprising seven males and two females. All EL patients exhibited noticeable symptoms, including cough (in eight patients), dyspnea (in six patients), fever (in three patients), expectoration (in two patients), chest pain (in two patients), hemoptysis (in one patient), and fatigue (in one patient). Chest CT abnormalities included endobronchial mass (in four patients), inflammatory exudation (in three patients), atelectasis (in three patients), and infiltration or consolidation (in two patients). In three patients, imaging showed fat density, directly leading to the diagnosis of EL. The EL lesions were distributed with six in the right lung and three in the left lung, all located within the first three subdivisions of the tracheobronchial tree. Treatment approaches varied, with one patient undergoing combined bronchoscopic resection and surgery. The remaining patients received bronchoscopic intervention such as electrosurgical snare resection, argon plasma coagulation (APC), cryotherapy, and holmium laser. Histopathological analysis confirmed the EL diagnosis. Finally, the mass removal restored bronchus patency. Taken together, EL symptoms lack specificity, necessitating reliance on histopathology for EL accurate diagnosis. Bronchoscopic interventions emerge as the preferred option for EL management, surpassing surgical approaches.

An unexpected encounter and outcome between endobronchial lipoma and carcinoma: a case report and literature review

Bronchial lipoma is a rare benign tumor of the lung, which is often misdiagnosed due to concomitant pulmonary diseases. In addition, the coexistence of endobronchial lipoma and lung cancer is extremely unusual. To date, no related computed tomography (CT) images have been reported. The patient was a 53-year-old man, who was admitted to our hospital with cough, yellow phlegm, and fever for 1 week. The CT image showed an irregular mass in the medial segment of the right middle lobe (B4a) with surrounding ground glass opacity, and another solid nodule in the right lower lobe (B6b). Unfortunately, after 2 weeks of anti-inflammatory treatment, the bronchial invasion of the B4a nodule did not decrease significantly, so further bronchoscopy was carried out and tumor resection was performed using endoscopic mucosal resection with a ligation device (EMR-L). During the follow-up 4 months, it was found that the B6b nodule was marked enlargement and then removed. The lesions of the B4a and B6b were confirmed as endobronchial lipoma and squamous cell carcinoma (T1aN0M0) by histopathology and immunohistochemical staining, respectively, and no postoperative radiotherapy or chemotherapy was performed. Regrettably, after 29 months of follow-up, we observed recurrence and slow enlargement of the lipoma in its original location, progressive emphysema in both lungs, and solitary chest wall metastasis from the B6b squamous cell carcinoma that had been resected. Therefore, endobronchial endoscopy resection should be carefully selected for larger endobronchial lipoma. If it is accompanied by early squamous cell carcinoma (T1aN0M0), we still recommend active postoperative chemoradiotherapy.