title: Endobronchial tumor in children: Unusual finding in recurrent pneumonia, report of three cases.
abstract: We are reporting 3 cases of pediatric endobronchial tumors presented with recurrent pneumonia. The median age of patients, at time of presentation, was 10.6 years. All patients presented with recurrent pneumonia with a mean time to occurrence, after onset of symptoms, of 14 mo. Bronchoscopy was early performed as part of diagnostic work-up and it revealed an endobronchial mass in every case. Complete surgical resection was performed in all cases, with lung preservation in two of them. Neither post-operative chemotherapy nor radiotherapy was required. The mean duration of follow-up was 7 years and all patients are still alive and disease-free. Recurrent pneumonia, in pediatrics, should raise the suspicion of an obstructing lesion, congenital malformation or systemic disease. A systematic approach is useful for organize the clinicians initial workup. Prompt diagnosis allows parenchymal-sparing surgery, which offers the best chance of cure and reduces clinical and functional complications in these patients.
authors.affiliation: Silvia Madafferi, Vincenzo D Catania, Antonella Accinni, Alessandro Inserra, Department of General and Thoracic Surgery, Bambino Gesù Children Hospital-Resarch Institute, 00152 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Madafferi
authors.affiliation: Silvia Madafferi, Vincenzo D Catania, Antonella Accinni, Alessandro Inserra, Department of General and Thoracic Surgery, Bambino Gesù Children Hospital-Resarch Institute, 00152 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Vincenzo D
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Catania
authors.affiliation: Silvia Madafferi, Vincenzo D Catania, Antonella Accinni, Alessandro Inserra, Department of General and Thoracic Surgery, Bambino Gesù Children Hospital-Resarch Institute, 00152 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Accinni
authors.affiliation: Silvia Madafferi, Vincenzo D Catania, Antonella Accinni, Alessandro Inserra, Department of General and Thoracic Surgery, Bambino Gesù Children Hospital-Resarch Institute, 00152 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Renata
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Boldrini
authors.affiliation: Silvia Madafferi, Vincenzo D Catania, Antonella Accinni, Alessandro Inserra, Department of General and Thoracic Surgery, Bambino Gesù Children Hospital-Resarch Institute, 00152 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Inserra
keywords: Carcinoid tumor; Endo-bronchial tumor; Mucoepidermoid tumor; Pediatric; Recurrent pneumonia