title: Bronchial cast hiding a lung cancer.
abstract: A 70-year-old man was admitted for severe hypoxia, haemoptysis and cough. Chest-X-ray and CT-scan indicated a right-lower-lobe collapse. Bronchoscopy showed its occlusion by whitish dense mucus. Aspiration revealed a Bronchial Cast (BC) and a stenotic and inflamed orifice of the right-lower-lobe-bronchus which was biopsied.Histopathologic examination of BC showed fibrin with lymphocytes and neutrophils, and, surprisingly, also the presence of lung cancer. Although the association between BC and benign, myxoid-soft-tissue, tracheobronchial tumors has been described, the association with lung cancer has not previously been reported, and it remains unclear whether it is causal or casual.
authors.affiliation: Thoracic Surgery, University of Catania, Catania, Italy. mmiglior@unict.it.
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Migliore
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ciancio
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Giuliano
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Di Maria