[Hamartoma of the lung. Dysontogenetic lesion or true tumor? Study of 100 personal cases].

100 hamartomas of the lung (89 operative and 11 autopsy specimens were examined in detail and all parameters statistically correlated. Clinical identification and diagnosis have improved continuously in the last two decades. Men are affected more frequently. The hamartomas of the middle lobes were exceptional from several points of view (size, growth form, age). The typical hamartoma does not become malignant. Those patients who have a co-existent bronchial carcinoma are generally younger than those who have malignant disease only. Precise investigation of various individual criteria demonstrated that the replacement of the old dysontogenesis theory through the concept of pure tumorigenesis (mesenchymoma) is not justified.