Abstract
A 71-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of high fever and dyspnea. A chest X-ray film on admission revealed atelectasis of the right lung. Bronchofiberscopy showed a white polypoid lesion obstructing the right main bronchus and biopsy specimens showed squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. He was clinically diagnosed as Kartagener's syndrome because of situs inversus, bronchiectasis and chronic sinusitis. We demonstrated a lack of dynein arms of his bronchial cilia under electron microscopy. Only a few cases of Kartagener's syndrome with lung cancer have been reported. The relation between this syndrome and lung cancer has not been clear. Severe respiratory tract infection due to decrease in airway clearance sometimes prevents early diagnosis of lung cancer. It is better to treat patients with Kartagener's syndrome keeping the possibility of lung cancer in mind.
