Abundant cartilage formation of congenital pulmonary airway malformation--a case report

Robot-assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy as treatment of a giant bulla

BACKGROUND

A bulla is a marked enlarged space within the parenchyma of the lung. Bullae may cause dyspnea by compressing healthy lung parenchyma and can cause a pneumothorax. Also, bullae are associated with malignancy, therefore surgical bullectomy is indicated on preventive basis. This case is unique and therefore valuable because of the remarkable presentation, innovative treatment and the spectacular improvement of lung function and socio-economic performance of the patient.

CASE PRESENTATION

In this case report we describe the presentation, minimally invasive surgical treatment by means of a robot-assisted lobectomy and postoperative outcome of a young patient with a giant congenital bulla of the left upper lobe.

CONCLUSIONS

In this case robot-assisted lobectomy has shown spectacular improvement of lung function and fast-track recovery with beneficial socio-economic performance in a young patient with a giant congenital bulla.

Diffuse chondroid malformation of the lung: cases series of a hitherto undescribed congenital lung disease

Congenital chondroid lesions of the lung are rare pathological findings. They are a constant feature of lung malformations such as giant cystic pulmonary chondroid hamartoma, chondroid cystic malformation, and in the "cartilaginous variant" of congenital adenomatoid malformation. All of these present as a large single thoracic mass.We present the cases of three males and two females with hitherto undescribed diffuse chondroid lung disease, all but one of whom had neonatal respiratory distress syndrome with interstitial syndrome on chest radiograph. The pathological findings were similar in all patients, showing large areas of disorganized lung parenchyma containing diffusely distributed mature cartilage islands. With a mean follow-up of 6 years, all patients had a favorable outcome. This diffuse chondroid lung disease appears to be a new entity whose initial presentation mimicked interstitial lung disease without the usual clinical, radiological, and histological features. We speculate that it could be part of a clinical spectrum between malformative chondroid lung cyst and congenital pulmonary airway malformation.