The prevalence of congenital bronchial atresia in males.

BACKGROUND

Congenital bronchial atresia is a rare anomaly, which usually occurs in adulthood as an incidental finding on routine chest radiograph.

METHODS

The purpose of the study was to retrospectively evaluate the cases that were diagnosed in our hospital, from January 1995 to March 2003, to estimate the prevalence of this disorder and to determine the diagnostic studies of choice, according to the existing literature. Since the main portion of the male population of our country is referred to our hospital for screening soon after their enrollment in the army, epidemiological data can be easily estimated for many congenital anomalies occuring in adulthood, such as bronchial atresia.

RESULTS

We found seven patients with Congenital Bronchial Atresia and the prevalence of this disorder was estimated at 1.2 cases per 100,000 in males. The chosen diagnostic procedure is computed tomography of the chest with high-resolution scans. Bronchoscopy would only exclude serious alternative diagnosis and prevent unnecessary surgical interventions.

CONCLUSIONS

Congenital bronchial atresia is a rare anomaly, with a mild clinical course. The diagnosis is made radiologically, the HRCT of the chest being the procedure of choice. Bronchoscopy should be performed to exclude any endobronchial lesion due to a different disease entity and to prevent unnecessary surgical intervention in an otherwise asymptomatic individual.