Abstract

An uncommon case of tracheobronchopathia osteoplastica in a 52-year-old woman is reported, the fifth example of this condition to be published in the British literature. The bronchoscopic feature of bony hardness of the bronchial wall was initially suggestive of bronchial neoplasm. The histological feature of bony deposits (containing marrow showing active haemopoiesis) in the submucosa of the lower trachea and major bronchi was superimposed on a background of primary localized amyloid infiltration, and yet the bronchoscopic findings and the naked-eye morbid anatomical appearance suggested tracheobronchopathia osteoplastica. A study of the reported cases of tracheobronchopathia osteoplastica on the one hand, and of primary localized tracheobronchial amyloidosis on the other, reveals considerable similarity and overlap between the two conditions. It is postulated that some, if not all, cases of tracheobronchopathia osteoplastica are merely the advanced ossified stage of primary localized amyloidosis of the lower respiratory tract.