Abstract
A routine chest X-ray inspection detected a solid nodule in the right upper lobe in a 38-year-old asymptomatic female patient. It was not suspected of being malignant and had been followed up until the following year when a chest CT scan showed the slightly enlarged tumor. The patient was referred to our hospital for examination and treatment. Thoracoscopy-assisted partial resection of the lung was performed for diagnosis and treatment, because it was considered difficult to conduct invasive diagnostic procedures including bronchoscopy and CT-guided biopsy due to the size and location of the tumor as well as intellectual disability the patient had. The pathological diagnosis was alveolar adenoma.
Alveolar adenoma is a rare benign neoplasm. It is pathologically characterized by both proliferations of the alveolar epithelium and fibrous tissue originating from the mesenchyme. Alveolar adenoma usually affects the peripheries of the lung and appears similar to the normal lung tissue, for that we have difficulties in making the definite diagnosis by a biopsy. We need complete excision of the lesion to make the accurate diagnosis and to carry out appropriate treatment.
