Discussion
Diagnosis With Brief Discussion
- Diagnosis
- Adenoid cystic carcinoma
- Radiologic Findings
- CT images show endobronchial mass obstructing left main bronchus with peribronchial soft tissue thickening at left main bronchus, carina, extending to left lower tracheal wall, with mucous collection in distal lobar bronchus.
- Brief Review
- Adenoid cystic carcinomas are usually recognized without sex predilection in patients in their 40s, and smoking does not affect the incidence. It is a low-grade malignancy that is the second most common tracheal malignancy at histology (33%) after squamous cell carcinoma (48%). Adenoid cystic carcinomas usually arise in the lower trachea. Others are found in the mainstem bronchi, lobar bronchi or, rarely, in the segmental bronchi and extrathoracic trachea. The most common site of the tumor in the trachea has been reported to be the posterolateral wall.
On CT, the tumor has a striking tendency toward submucosal extension that manifests as an intraluminal mass of soft tissue attenuation with extension through the tracheal wall, a diffuse or circumferential wall thickening of the trachea, a soft tissue mass filling the airway, or a homogeneous mass encircling the trachea with wall thickening in the transverse and longitudinal planes. The longitudinal extent of the tumor is greater than its transaxial extent. It shows better prognosis than squamous cell carcinoma (5yr survival; 65-100%) and relatively common late recurrence after surgery.
- Please refer to
Case 89, Case 115, Case 209, Case 312, Case 418, -
- References
- Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma of the Airways: Helical CT and Histopathologic Correlation, Seo-Hyun Kwak et al., AJR 2004;183:273-281
- Keywords
- Airway, Malignant tumor,