A Case of Endobronchial Nonspecific Inflammatory Polyp Caused by Smoke Inhalation

Abstract

A 69-year-old woman was hospitalized with marked hypoxemia and unconsciousness after inhaling incompletely combusted material from a kerosene stove in a closed room. A band like shadow extending from the hilum to the peripheral region of the right lower lung field was found by chest roentgenogram taken three weeks after disappearance of the initial symptoms. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy revealed several polypoid lesions causing stenosis in the right basal bronchus. Biopsy showed squamous metaplasia and submucosal infiltration of inflammatory cells, including lymphocytes and plasma cells. Three weeks later bronchoscopy revealed disappearance of the polypoid lesions. Inflammatory bronchial polyps are known to be caused by various stimuli. The present case is a rare one in which inhalation of incompletely combusted material smoke from a kerosen stove is thought to have been the cause of the polyps.