Multiple Pulmonary Carcinoids and The Importance of Differential Diagnosis: A Case Report

Introduction: Pulmonary carcinoid tumors (PCTs) are a rare group of neoplasms, representing 1-2% of lung cancers in adults and 20-30% of neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). They primarily occur in women during the fifth and sixth decades of life. These tumors are classified as typical carcinoid (low-grade) and atypical carcinoid (intermediate-grade), and can present with respiratory symptoms or be discovered incidentally. Diagnosis is typically made via bronchoscopy, transthoracic biopsy, or, less frequently, by mediastinoscopy and endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS). Case report: Describes a case of multiple neuroendocrine pulmonary nodules in a 68-year-old female patient, presenting with clinical symptoms of weakness and occasional fatigue, dyspnea on moderate exertion, and cough with little sputum, in addition to an unintentional weight loss of 2kg over three months. Conclusion: This case report documents the rare occurrence of multiple foci of pulmonary carcinoid tumors, a less common phenomenon compared to the predominantly unifocal cases reported in the literature. The diagnostic approach, which included biopsy and immunohistochemical analysis, together with pulmonary segmentectomy treatment, proved to be largely effective.