Benign Tumors of the Lung

¹ Department of Thoracic Surgery, Government Hospital

Thirty-four cases of benign tumor of the lung and bronchi have been presented. These represent the case material of the department of Thoracic Surgery in the years 1950-1960 and comprise 13 per cent of the lung tumors that were operated during the same years. Eighteen were adenomas, ten hamartomas, two ipomas, one chondroma, one leiomyoma, one neurinoma and one papilloma.

From the therapeutic point of view, adenomas have to be considered apart from the rest of these tumors. The adenomas possess potentially malignant qualities (local invasion and sometimes even metastasis) in addition to the danger of bronchial obstruction and secondary infection. This justifies the radical approach, and their excision together with the parenchyma distal to the involved bronchus. The surgical approach is justified for the rest of those tumors too, both because of the danger of bronchial obstruction and the impossibility of their differentiation from the malignant tumors without thoracotomy. Only in a few cases is bronchoscopic treatment indicated: when the tumor is endobronchial and on a narrow pedicle, or as pal!iative treatment when the patient's condition excludes thoracotomy.