Ligneous brochitis: A clinicopathological correlation of seven cases

Seven patients with ligneous lesions of the bronchus are presented. The patients are five men and two women between the ages of 51 and 79 years (average: 65) who had prior history of pulmonary non-small cell carcinoma in the past 2–3 years. All the patients had undergone surgical resection followed by chemotherapy. The patients were evaluated for the potential recurrence of carcinoma and bronchial biopsies were obtained. Histologically, all the cases shared similar features, manly the presence of a subepithelial amorphous, acellular, eosinophilic material with minimal inflammatory reaction. Special histochemical stains for micro-organisms were negative as well as congo red for the presence of amyloid. No evidence of malignancy was seen in any of the biopsies. The current cases, represent an unusual histological feature that is more in keeping with ligneous bronchitis, possibly secondary to treatment.