Published online May 8, 2015. doi: 10.5409/wjcp.v4.i2.30
Peer-review started: November 26, 2014
First decision: January 8, 2015
Revised: January 27, 2015
Accepted: March 30, 2015
Article in press: April 2, 2015
Published online: May 8, 2015
We are reporting 3 cases of pediatric endobronchial tumors presented with recurrent pneumonia. The median age of patients, at time of presentation, was 10.6 years. All patients presented with recurrent pneumonia with a mean time to occurrence, after onset of symptoms, of 14 mo. Bronchoscopy was early performed as part of diagnostic work-up and it revealed an endobronchial mass in every case. Complete surgical resection was performed in all cases, with lung preservation in two of them. Neither post-operative chemotherapy nor radiotherapy was required. The mean duration of follow-up was 7 years and all patients are still alive and disease-free. Recurrent pneumonia, in pediatrics, should raise the suspicion of an obstructing lesion, congenital malformation or systemic disease. A systematic approach is useful for organize the clinicians initial workup. Prompt diagnosis allows parenchymal-sparing surgery, which offers the best chance of cure and reduces clinical and functional complications in these patients.
Core tip: The role of a systematic diagnostic work up in determining the risk of rare conditions in pediatric recurrent pneumonia has been delineated. This case series not only present 3 cases of rare pediatric endobronchial tumors, but also applies early bronchoscopy as a tool to rule out the presence of tumors of the respiratory tree in case of recurrent pneumonia. Prompt diagnosis allows parenchymal-preserving surgery, which offer the best chance of cure and reduce clinical and functional complications in these patients.