title: Pulmonary hamartoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pulmonary hamartoma is the most common type of benign lung tumors. We retrospectively reviewed the clinicopathological features of 61 patients with pulmonary hamartomas undergoing surgical resection in our institution.
  
  
  METHODS
  From 1971 to 2002, 61 patients with 62 pulmonary hamartomas underwent surgical resection in the Division of Thoracic Surgery, Taipei Veterans General Hospital. 45 were men and 16 were women (approximately in 3:1 ratio). Their mean age was 56.9 years (range 20 to 77 years). The medical records of these patients were reviewed. The information collected using a standardized data-collection form consisted of the age at presentation, gender, initial manifestations or symptoms, history of tobacco consumption, location of hamartoma, size of the lesions, state of calcification in the hamartoma, the results of preoperative bronchoscopic examination, operative procedures and pathological report of intra-operative frozen section. All available histological slides were reviewed by the same pathologist to reconfirm the diagnosis of pulmonary hamartoma.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 61 patients with pulmonary hamartoma, 41 patients were clinically asymptomatic, 16 patients had new onset of respiratory symptoms and 4 patients had chronic cough. One patient had synchronous 2 separate lesions. The hamartomas were equally distributed in the pulmonary lobes with the mean transverse diameter of 1.8 cm measured in operation (range 0.2 to 5.0). No tumor recurrence developed after resection in our series. The mean follow-up was 8.9 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The vast majority of pulmonary hamartomas represent as solitary pulmonary nodule. Definite diagnosis and the treatment can be achieved by surgical resection with minimal morbidity. No tumor recurrence was encountered in the follow-up period.
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Yung-Chang
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Lien
authors.forename: Han-Shui
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Wing Yin
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yu-Chung
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Wen-Hu
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Liang-Shun
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Min-Hsiung
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Biing-Shiun
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006222:Hamartoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies