Bronchogenic cysts in adults

Quistes broncogénicos en los adultos

Introduction: The bronchogenic cysts represent a spectrum of congenital malformations of the tracheobronchial tree which results from its abnormal development.
Objective: To evaluate the treatment of the bronchogenic cysts in adult patients.
Patients, Methods: Between October, 1978 and July, 2005, 54 patients with bronchogenic cysts diagnosis who entered to the General Surgery Number 1 Service, Hospital Miguel Perez Carreño, Caracas, Venezuela are analyzed retrospectively. Exclusion criteria: patients lesser than 15 years old. The included patients were classified in two categories with or without symptoms. The clinic, image, treatment, findings, complications, recurrence were studied. The diagnostic usefulness of the bronchial epithelium and mocus presence in the cytological study was determined. Results: Cough together with pain were the most frequent symptoms. 56% were asymptomatic and in these, the diagnostic by radiology was suspicious. Chest radiographies were abnormal in 53 patients (98.54%). The axial tomography resulted pathologic in the 54 patients (100%), but it only confirmed the benign nature of the cyst in the 62.5%. The clinic impression and image allow establishing diagnostic in 32 patients (60%). 83% were initially resected, 12% of the asymptomatic cysts put into observation, required posterior resection. 14.81% showed as complication, pulmonary distress by airways compression, infection and fistulas. Positive relation between the number of complications and symptomatic cysts were observed (54% vs. 28%).
Conclusions: Symptomatic cysts must be or not resected, as the probability to have post-resection pulmonary complications are higher than in the symptomatic cases.