A Case of Endobronchial Chondroma

좌측 주기관지에 발생한 연골종 1예

Endobronchial chondroma is a cartilaginous benign tumor, which arises from bronchial cartilage. As a rare benign tumor, endobronchial chondroma differs from cartilaginous hamartoma in that it includes cartilage components only, but hamartoma contains lipomatous and lymphoid tissue. The clinical manifestations of endobronchial chondroma are associated with the extent of mechanical obstruction of bronchus. Symptoms of endobronchial chondroma are nonspecific, such as cough, sputum, fever, or dyspnea on exertion. Endobronchial chondroma is often misdiagnosed as other diseases, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or pulmonary tuberculosis. The treatment is usually surgical procedures, such as resection of lung segment or lobe by thoracostomy, or resection of tumor by bronchoscopy. We report a case of the patient who was diagnosed to have endobronchial chondroma treated by bronchial resection and end to end anastomosis.

기관지내 연골종은 드문 양성 종양으로 폐 절제술 또는 내시경적 절제술로 치료가 가능하므로 다른 질환과의 감별이 중요할 것으로 생각된다. 본 종례는 2년간의 호흡곤란으로 치료를 받았으나 호전되지 않아 굴곡성 기관지 내시경, 흉부 전산화 촬영 후 기관지내 결핵 및 악성 종양 의심하에 기관지 절제술 및 단단 문합술을 시행 받고 기관지내 연골종으로 최종 진단 받은 환자로 현재 특별한 문제없이 외래 추적 관찰중이다.