Tumor staging: Bronchi

Peripheral bronchopulmonary carcinoids (BCs) are oftentimes totally asymptomatic and incidentally diagnosed, while centrally located ones are usually discovered through the symptoms caused by the obstruction of the central airway. Contrast CT scan represents the gold standard radiological imaging for the preoperative workup, while FDG-PET scan is still controversial. Bronchoscopy, generally negative in the peripheral forms, makes possible to detect the lesion and to biopsy the tumor, in case of central BCs. Surgery represents the mainstay of treatment, and anatomical resections associated with systemic lymphadenectomy should be performed. Postoperative long-term clinical and radiological follow-up is mandatory, especially in case of biologically aggressive tumoral forms: local relapses or distant metastases are, in fact, reported even many years after the first operation.