Original Article
Bronchogenic Cysts of the Lung: Report of 29 Cases

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hlc.2008.10.011Get rights and content

Background

Intrapulmonary bronchogenic cysts are congenital anomalies of the tracheobronchial tree and foregut. The aim of this retrospective study was to review the diagnosis, clinical and histological features, operative techniques, outcomes and follow-up of intrapulmonary bronchogenic cysts treated in a single institute.

Methods

Twenty-nine patients with intrapulmonary bronchogenic cysts were treated surgically between 1990 and 2005. There were 17 female and 12 male patients and their ages ranged from 7 to 68 years. Patients were divided into two groups according to surgical procedure. Resection (lobectomy or wedge resection) was performed on Group I (n = 18), and partial excision with de-epithelisation was performed on Group II (n = 11).

Results

Twenty-five patients (86.2%) were symptomatic. Cough and sputum were the most common symptoms. Twenty-four of the 29 BCs were simple cysts (82.7%) whereas 5 (17.3%) were complicated cysts. Postoperative hospital stay was 4.55 ± 0.86 days in group I and 6.54 ± 3.34 days in group II (P = 0.172). Complications in Group I were pneumonia in one case and wound infection in two cases; prolonged air leakage were observed in two cases of Group II. No statistical difference was determined between the complication rates of the two groups (P = 0.91). However a significant difference was determined between the complication rates of simple and complicated cysts (P = 0.026). Two cases in Group II showed recurrence, whereas no recurrence occurred in Group I. (P = 0.065) No postoperative mortality was observed in any of the groups.

Conclusions

All bronchogenic cysts should be treated surgically. We believe that partial excision with de-epithelisation may be an alternative to resection in symptomatic patients with limited respiratory capacity.

Introduction

Congenital foregut cysts are classified as bronchogenic cysts (BCs), which can be mediastinal or intrapulmonary [1], [2], [3]. BCs that arise in later gestation are located within the lung parenchyma, where they often have a patent communication with the tracheobronchial tree and cause symptoms of recurrent and chronic pulmonary infection. BCs are more commonly located in the mediastinum, intrapulmonary cysts represent about 15–20% of all the BCs and usually occur in the lower lobes. They are observed not only in infants and children, but also late in adults [4], [5]. BCs may lead to compression, haemorrhage, and infection and thus be life-threatening [1]. The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the diagnosis, clinical and histological features, determine the optimal surgical treatment, outcomes and, follow-up of intrapulmonary BCs, in a series consisting of 29 patients at a single hospital.

Section snippets

Patients and Methods

Thirty-seven bronchogenic cyst patients, histopathologically diagnosed by the inner surface covered with ciliated respiratory epithelium containing cartilage, smooth-muscle elements, and bronchial gland tissue were operated on between the years 1990 and 2005 in our Center. Twenty-nine (78.4%) intrapulmonary located BCs were included in our study (8 BCs with mediastinal localisation were excluded). Seventeen patients were female (58.6%) and 12 were male (41.4%). The mean age was 21.6 years

Results

Twenty-five (86.2%) of the patients were symptomatic, 4 (13.8%) were asymptomatic. The most common symptoms were cough and sputum. Other symptoms included chest pain, breathlessness, haemoptysis, and fever (Table 1). The majority of bronchogenic cysts were located in the lower lobes (65.6%). Localisations of the bronchogenic cysts are summarised in Table 2. There was only one cyst in all patients. Among these 29 bronchogenic cysts, 24 (82.7%) were simple. There were 5 (17.3%) complicated cysts.

Discussion

Bronchogenic cysts are congenital lesions arising from the abnormal budding of the ventral foregut that occurs between the 26th and 40th days of gestation. Depending on time of separation from the primary airways, BCs may present as mediastinal cysts close to the tracheobronchial tree or as pulmonary cysts within the lung parenchyma [1], [2], [6]. The majority of BCs are located mediastinally. However, controversial to the literature, our series included a majority of intrapulmonary

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank Sedat Ziyade M.D. (Vakif Gureba Teaching and Research Hospital) for his valuable efforts to gather the statistical data in our manuscript.

References (19)

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