A primary tracheal carcinoid tumor masquerading as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Primary tumors of the trachea are rare and can be missed because of the paucity of symptoms and findings and the difficulty in detecting them with chest radiographs. A 31-year-old male patient was admitted with complaints of shortness of breath, coughing, phlegm, and blood in the sputum. He stated that he was being treated for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy revealed a vegetative mass with a wide base on the posterolateral wall of the distal one-third of the trachea. Postoperative histopathological examination revealed a typical carcinoid tumor. In patients with an unexplained cough, dyspnea, infrequent hemoptysis, and normal pulmonary imaging findings, tracheal carcinoma should be suspected. In such cases, early thoracic computed tomography and bronchoscopic examination can provide a rapid diagnosis and treatment options and prevent a false diagnosis.
Uskul
Bahadir T
BT
Chest Diseases Department and Pathology Department, Sureyyapasa Training and Research Hospital for Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, Istanbul, Turkey. tbuskul@yahoo.com
Turker
Hatice
H
Dincer
Ibrahim S
IS
Melikoglu
Alkin
A
Tasolar
Oktay
O
Tahaoglu
Canan
C
D000328:Adult; D001999:Bronchoscopy; D002276:Carcinoid Tumor / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000209:etiology; D006469:Hemoptysis / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014132:Trachea / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014134:Tracheal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery