title: Chondroma: an uncommon case of bronchial tumor.
abstract: We report the case of a patient with an endobronchial chondroma, a rare benign endobronchial tumor. A 37-year-old woman was evaluated for suspicion of asthma. Computed tomography of the chest and flexible bronchoscopy showed an endoluminal tumor occluding the culmen (B3 left). The tumor was extirpated almost completely by bronchoscopy. Histologically, the biopsy specimens were composed of chondromatous tissue located under the normal bronchial mucosa, according to the diagnosis of chondroma. The symptoms disappeared immediately after the procedure and did not reappear after 1 year. Chondromas are usually located on the skeleton. Endobronchial presentation is rare. We know of only 41 cases reported in the literature. Hamartoma or chondrosarcoma constitutes the main histologic differential diagnosis. The treatment consists of complete resection to avoid any risk of recurrence or sarcomatous transformation. There is no consensus regarding the method of treatment, but endoscopic resection seems to be the first choice.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Pulmonology and Pathology †Department of Pathology; Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Anrijs
authors.forename: Birgit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Weynand
authors.forename: Françoise
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pirson
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rodenstein
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pieters