Bronchogenic cysts in patients presumed to have pulmonary tuberculosis

A rare cause of airway obstruction: Mediastinal cyst secondarily infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Mediastinal cysts are mostly congenital, but rarely, infections and malignancies can cause cystic degeneration of enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes. Diagnosis is challenging as the presenting symptoms are nonspecific. Surgical resection is the reference modality both for diagnosis and management. Secondary infection of mediastinal bronchogenic cyst with Mycobacterium tuberculosis is rare. Herein, we describe a young male who was managed as bronchial asthma with inhalational bronchodilators and glucocorticoids. Computed tomography revealed a cystic lesion in the subcarinal region. Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration was done to perform diagnostic and therapeutic aspiration of the cyst that showed infection with M. tuberculosis. A subsequent surgical resection confirmed the cystic lesion to be a bronchogenic cyst.

[Bronchogenic cysts. Importance of infection in adults. Study of 12 cases]

BACKGROUND

Bronchogenic cyst is a rare congenital malformation and commonly located in the mediastinum and lung parenchyma.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the clinical characteristics of the patients with diagnosis of bronchogenic cysts, their location and the infectious bacteria when the cysts are infected. The cases were collected from 1 January 2005 to 1 January 2013, in a third level hospital.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The cases with bronchogenic cysts resected by thoracotomy were confirmed by histological study. Age, sex, admission diagnosis, location, size, imagenologic studies, and bacteriological cultures were evaluated.

RESULTS

Of the 12 cases with diagnosis of bronchogenic cysts surgically resected by thoracotomy, six were male and six female, with 50% located in lung parenchyma and 50% in mediastinum, one of the latter was para-oesophageal. Bacteriological study of the cystic content demonstrated bacterial infection in seven (58%) cases.

CONCLUSIONS

Bronchogenic cysts are rare congenital benign lesions. They must be resected because their content might be infected. The histopathology study is necessary to confirm the diagnosis, together with bacteriological examination. Thoracotomy is a safe procedure to resect bronchogenic cysts.