Case 1-1995

Presentation of CaseAn 80-year-old man was admitted to the hospital because of an enlarging lung tumor of long duration, recurrent bouts of postobstructive pneumonia, and recent respiratory distress.There was a history of a slowly growing mass in the left main bronchus that had first been noted on radiographs of the chest obtained 22 years earlier. The patient refused to undergo a thoracotomy, and the findings at bronchoscopic examination were considered to be consistent with a carcinoid tumor; no biopsy specimen was obtained. During the ensuing 15 years there were no symptoms referable to the mass.Seven years before . . .