Pulmonary hamartoma.

From 1973 to 1980, 9 pulmonary chondromatous hamartomas of the lung were resected at our Clinic. One of these hamartomas was a rare endobronchial chondroma. To our knowledge, 91 cases of endobronchial hamartomas have been described in the previous literature. Although a similar origin of intrapulmonary and endobronchial hamartomas is postulated, there is a difference in their clinical features. The endobronchial type of hamartoma often causes respiratory symptoms of obstructing the bronchus with consequent destruction of the distal lung, whereas patients with intra-pulmonary hamartomas are symptom-free.