A 39-year-old Chinese lady was admitted to hospital for an emergency caesarian section under general anaesthesia. After intubation it was discovered that there was diminished air entry to the left side.
The cause could not be elicited during anaesthesia and a postoperative chest radiograph revealed no abnormality. Subsequent tomography revealed a mass in the lumen of the left main bronchus. Biopsy of the lesion revealed an adenoid cystic carcinoma (bronchial adenoma — cylindroma type).
By causing airway obstruction with gas trapping this rare neoplasm may present as the cause of a problem mimicking more common complications of endotracheal intubation.
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