Bronchial leiomyoma, a case report and review of literature

A 44 year old male former smoker from Ecuador presented with productive cough for 3 weeks, positive tuberculin skin test, 40 lbs weight loss and right lower lobe collapse. He denied wheezing or hemoptysis. He was treated with antibiotics and ruled out for tuberculosis with negative sputum smear. Bronchoscopy showed an endobronchial lesion at the distal end of bronchus intermedius as cause of the collapse. Endobronchial biopsy of the lesion revealed an endobronchial leiomyoma, a rare cause of endobronchial tumor. The patient underwent bilobectomy as definite therapy for the leiomyoma due to its large size and possible extra-luminal extension, which made it not amenable to bronchoscopic resection or bronchoplasty. Differential diagnoses of endobronchial lesions are discussed along with clinical, radiographic, pathologic characteristics and various treatment modalities for endobronchial leiomyomas.