Adult Presentation of a Large Congenital Pulmonary Airway Malformation Discovered After Traumatic Rib Fractures.
4 affiliations
- 1College of Medicine, Florida State University, Tallahassee, USA.
- 2Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, USA.
- 3Department of Pulmonary Medicine, AdventHealth Orlando, Orlando, USA.
- 4Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, AdventHealth Orlando, Orlando, USA.
Abstract
Congenital pulmonary airway malformation (CPAM) is a rare developmental lung lesion that is usually identified prenatally or in early childhood, and adult presentations are uncommon. A 44-year-old woman presented after a fall with right-sided chest pain and dyspnea. CT chest revealed nondisplaced fractures of the right seventh through ninth ribs and incidentally identified a large multilocular cystic lesion in the right lower lobe consistent with CPAM, unchanged from imaging performed 15 years earlier. Pulmonary function testing demonstrated mild small-airway dysfunction, air trapping, and reduced diffusing capacity without restrictive physiology. Given the lesion's size and potential risk for infection or malignant transformation, the patient underwent flexible bronchoscopy followed by right muscle-sparing thoracotomy with right lower lobectomy and thoracic lymphadenectomy. Intraoperative findings included dense vascular adhesions and distorted tissue planes. The postoperative course was uncomplicated. Pathology confirmed a benign cystic congenital pulmonary lesion without malignancy. This case highlights an uncommon adult presentation of long-standing CPAM incidental discovery and underscores that radiographic stability does not exclude clinically significant disease requiring surgical management.
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BibTeX
@article{hranec2026adult,
title = {{Adult Presentation of a Large Congenital Pulmonary Airway Malformation Discovered After Traumatic Rib Fractures.}},
author = {Brenda Hranec and Luke Hudson and Matthew Khouzam and Jacob W Hensley and Daniel Layish and Nayer Khouzam},
journal = {Cureus},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.7759/cureus.116530},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42898880},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Adult Presentation of a Large Congenital Pulmonary Airway Malformation Discovered After Traumatic Rib Fractures.
AU - Brenda Hranec
AU - Luke Hudson
AU - Matthew Khouzam
AU - Jacob W Hensley
AU - Daniel Layish
AU - Nayer Khouzam
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/19
JO - Cureus
DO - 10.7759/cureus.116530
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42898880
AB - Congenital pulmonary airway malformation (CPAM) is a rare developmental lung lesion that is usually identified prenatally or in early childhood, and adult presentations are uncommon. A 44-year-old woman presented after a fall with right-sided chest pain and dyspnea. CT chest revealed nondisplaced fractures of the right seventh through ninth ribs and incidentally identified a large multilocular cystic lesion in the right lower lobe consistent with CPAM, unchanged from imaging performed 15 years earlier. Pulmonary function testing demonstrated mild small-airway dysfunction, air trapping, and reduced diffusing capacity without restrictive physiology. Given the lesion's size and potential risk for infection or malignant transformation, the patient underwent flexible bronchoscopy followed by right muscle-sparing thoracotomy with right lower lobectomy and thoracic lymphadenectomy. Intraoperative findings included dense vascular adhesions and distorted tissue planes. The postoperative course was uncomplicated. Pathology confirmed a benign cystic congenital pulmonary lesion without malignancy. This case highlights an uncommon adult presentation of long-standing CPAM incidental discovery and underscores that radiographic stability does not exclude clinically significant disease requiring surgical management.
SN - 2168-8184
ER -