LIPOMA OF LEFT MAIN BRONCHUS: REPORT OF A CASE AND REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Abstract

Although malignant tumors of the tracheobronchial tree represent at least 10 per cent of all malignant growths, benign tumors in the air passages distal to the larynx are infrequently encountered. More general employment of bronchoscopy in diagnosis and treatment of chronic pulmonary disease has revealed a considerable number of benign tumors in the trachea and bronchi, but growths of this type are still sufficiently rare to justify placing cases on record. Of the benign tumors that have been observed, lipomas or fibrolipomas have constituted about 5 per cent. The first case, reported by Feller,¹ was discovered post mortem in the bronchus of the middle lobe of the right lung of a woman 66 years of age. Myerson² reported a case of fibrolipoma in the left main bronchus of a man aged 47 and was able to effect a removal through the bronchoscope, with complete relief of symptoms. Honig³ encountered a