[A case of endobronchial sarcoidosis presenting as a polypoid lesion]

Nihon Kokyuki Gakkai Zasshi. 2002 Mar;40(3):256-60.
[Article in Japanese]

Abstract

A 51-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of deterioration of abnormal chest shadows. Though the shadows had been pointed out at another hospital about two years before, no evaluation had been made at that time. A chest CT scan showed multiple small nodular shadows and thickening of the bronchovascular bundles bilaterally, and marked swollen lymph nodes in the axilla, mediastinum, and bilateral the hili of both lungs. Bronchoscopic evaluation revealed bronchial mucosal hypervascularity and a polypoid lesion at the orifice of the right B8b. The transbronchial biopsy specimen of the polypoid lesion showed non-caseating epithelioid cell granulomas in the bronchial mucosa. The bronchoalveolar lavage revealed a increase in the total number of cells including high levels of lymphocytes. Therefore, a diagnosis of sarcoidosis was made. This is a very rare case of endobronchial sarcoidosis. However, biopsy specimens of normal mucosa in sarcoidosis often show a microscopic sarcoid process, so a diagnosis of endobronchial sarcoidosis in this case should be given prudently.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • English Abstract

MeSH terms

  • Biopsy
  • Bronchi / pathology*
  • Bronchial Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Bronchoscopy
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Polyps / pathology*
  • Sarcoidosis / pathology*