Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Dec 6, 2020; 8(23): 6026-6035
Published online Dec 6, 2020. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v8.i23.6026
Pleomorphic adenoma of the trachea: A case report and review of the literature
Qian-Nuan Liao, Ze-Kui Fang, Shu-Bing Chen, Hui-Zhen Fan, Li-Chang Chen, Xi-Ping Wu, Xi He, Hua-Peng Yu
Qian-Nuan Liao, Ze-Kui Fang, Shu-Bing Chen, Hui-Zhen Fan, Li-Chang Chen, Xi-Ping Wu, Xi He, Hua-Peng Yu, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510280, Guangdong Province, China
Author contributions: Liao QN and Yu HP were the patient’s respiratory physicians; Chen SB performed the radiological diagnosis and contributed to manuscript drafting; Fan HZ performed the pathological diagnosis and contributed to manuscript drafting; Liao QN, Fang ZK, Chen LC, Wu XP, and He X reviewed the literature and contributed to manuscript drafting; Liao QN, Fang ZK, Chen SB, and Yu HP were responsible for the revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content; all authors issued final approval for the version to be submitted.
Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, China, No. 2020A1515010119.
Informed consent statement: The patient and her legal guardian provided informed written consent during the treatment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Hua-Peng Yu, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, No. 253 Industrial Avenue, Guangzhou 510280, Guangdong Province, China. huapengyu@aliyun.com
Received: April 22, 2020
Peer-review started: April 22, 2020
First decision: September 29, 2020
Revised: October 9, 2020
Accepted: November 2, 2020
Article in press: November 2, 2020
Published online: December 6, 2020
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Pleomorphic adenoma (PA) is the most common benign tumor that occurs in the salivary glands; however, tracheobronchial PA is rarely observed. To the best of our knowledge, fewer than 50 cases have been reported in the literature. We report a 49-year-old woman who had been treated for asthma for 2 years before being diagnosed with PA of the trachea.

CASE SUMMARY

A 49-year-old woman was referred to our hospital due to dyspnea upon exertion and chronic cough with wheezing for 2 years. Laboratory tests showed an elevated white blood cell count, absolute neutrophil count, and percentage of neutrophils. A chest computerized tomography scan showed a well-defined, soft-tissue density lesion measuring 2.4 cm × 2.1 cm in the lower trachea. Flexible bronchoscopy revealed that nearly 90% of the tracheal lumen was obstructed. The histopathological and immunohistochemistry features suggested PA of the trachea. Furthermore, we review the characteristics of 29 patients with tracheobronchial PA over the last 30 years.

CONCLUSION

Tracheobronchial PA occurs without gender predominance, mostly in the lower or upper trachea, and has a low recurrence rate. The median age at diagnosis is 48 years. The most common symptoms are cough, stridor, dyspnea, and wheezing.

Keywords: Pleomorphic adenoma, Trachea, Bronchoscopy, Review, Diagnosis, Case report

Core Tip: Pleomorphic adenoma of the trachea is a rare benign tumor with slow growth. However, no standards for management have been established, and the clinical course has not yet been defined. In this study, 29 cases of tracheobronchial pleomorphic adenoma are reviewed with regard to the most common symptoms, clinical course, and treatment. For early and accurate diagnosis, chest computerized tomography and bronchoscopy should be performed initially in suspected cases.