[A patient with bronchial asthma and mucoid impaction who presented with a high concentration of carcinoembryonic antigen in serum].

We encountered a patient with bronchial asthma and mucoid impaction who presented with a high concentration of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in serum. The patient was a 46-year-old woman. One year after resection of a uterine myoma and an ovarian cyst, examination of serum revealed a high concentration of CEA (24.1 ng/ml). Further examination revealed no evidence of malignant disease, but an abnormal shadow was seen on a chest X-ray film, and was thought to be compatible with mucoid impaction. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy revealed mucoid impaction in the right lower-lobe bronchus. The concentration of CEA in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was also high (6100 ng/ml). Lavage was done five times and the impaction was removed completely. The concentrations of CEA in serum and in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid decreased to 3.4 ng/ml and 621.9 ng/ml, respectively.