Key result
Bronchoscopic surgery successfully removes an obstructing endobronchial lipoma to restore left upper lobe aeration.
Why the study?
Endobronchial lipoma is an uncommon benign tumor of the tracheobronchial tree that may mimic more frequent causes of airway obstruction.
Does bronchoscopic surgery improve airway obstruction in a patient with endobronchial lipoma?
Case Report (n=1)
Does bronchoscopic surgery improve airway obstruction in a patient with endobronchial lipoma?
Bronchoscopic surgery can successfully treat endobronchial lipoma, with CT imaging providing quantitative demonstration of macroscopic fat and reversal of distal obstructive change.
Endobronchial lipoma warrants consideration in chronic obstruction; case report leaves diagnostic algorithms open.
Endobronchial lipoma is an uncommon benign tumor of the tracheobronchial tree and may mimic more frequent causes of airway obstruction. We report a 61-year-old man who was admitted with intermittent cough and sputum for more than 1 year, aggravated for 1 week, with episodic breathing discomfort. He had been told 6 years earlier that he had left bronchial obstruction, but no systematic treatment or regular follow-up had been pursued. Chest computed tomography (CT), selected to directly evaluate the bronchial lumen because of the prior history of bronchial obstruction, showed localized obstruction of the left upper lobar bronchus with left upper lobe inflammatory change and atelectasis. An intraluminal lesion measuring 20.10 × 9.22 mm demonstrated macroscopic fat attenuation, with a mean attenuation of −99.12 HU. Bronchoscopic surgery was performed for a left upper airway lesion. Histopathology showed proliferative adipose tissue beneath the bronchial mucosa, consistent with bronchial lipoma. One-month follow-up CT showed restored left upper lobe aeration. The educational value of this case lies in the quantitative demonstration of macroscopic fat and the direct pre- and post-treatment CT comparison showing reversal of distal obstructive change.
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Wang et al. (2026) conducted a case report in Endobronchial lipoma causing left upper lobar bronchial obstruction (n=1). Bronchoscopic surgery was evaluated on Restoration of left upper lobe aeration. Bronchoscopic surgery successfully removed an endobronchial lipoma causing left upper lobar bronchial obstruction, with one-month follow-up CT showing restored aeration.
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