ENDOBRONCHIAL CARCINOID AND MUCOEPIDERMOID CARCINOMA IN CHILDREN

Endobronchial neoplastic disease is rarely encountered in patients under 20 years of age. The great majority of these lesions are carcinoids or mucoepidermoid carcinoma. Symptoms are secondary to bronchial irritation and manifest as recurrent pneumonitis, hemoptysis, persistent cough, reactive airway disease, and chest pain. Early bronchoscopy reliably enables identification and may prevent harmful sequelae resulting from delay in diagnosis. Retrospective data from four cases collected from the Tumor Registry in the Southern California Kaiser Permanente Medical Group is presented and a review of the literature is discussed.