Pulmonary carcinoid tumor--tumorlet type: a case report.

A rare case of bronchiectasis with carcinoid tumor, tumorlet type, is reported. The patient was a 53-year-old female who underwent lobectomy of the right middle and lower lobes for severe hemorrhage secondary to bronchiectasis. No tumor was seen on chest X-ray or by gross examination of the lung. Microscopically, there were multiple tumorlets in the pulmonary parenchyma surrounding the bronchiole and small bronchus. The tumor cells stained positive for neuron-specific enolase, keratin and chromogranin stain. The morphology, and staining properties suggested that the pulmonary tumorlets were carcinoid tumor. No tumor cells were identified in the four peribronchial lymph nodes. The patient is disease-free after four years of follow-up.