A 71-year-old man with unilateral wheezing: an unusual cause.

We present an unusual case of a 71-year-old man with unilateral wheezing brought on by change in position. Isolated bronchomalacia in the absence of tracheal involvement occurs more commonly in children and in adults with emphysema, chronic bronchitis, extrinsic compression by tumors, compression by abnormal blood vessels or vascular rings, relapsing polychondritis, endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation, enlarged left atrium, trauma, and lung transplantation. Our patient had predominant unilateral bronchomalacia. In this report, we present the clinical features, review the literature, and describe the probable pathophysiology.