ROUNDED ATELECTASIS THAT DISAPPEARED AFTER BRONCHOSCOPY

We describe a 70-year-old man who presented with a round opacity that disappeared after bronchoscopy. Chest computed tomograms (CT) showed a round opacity in the left lower posterior lung field. Brushings and w ashings of the left B-10 through bronchoscope yielded neither malignan t cells nor acid fast bacilli. The patient was diagnosed as having a b enign tumor and was not medicated. Chest CT 1.5 months after bronchosc opy showed that the round opacity had disappeared. Although this cours e was unusual, this radiopacity was quite typical of round atelectasis on the basis of CT appearance.