Leiomyoma of the bronchus.

The patient was a housewife aged 57 years. In 1942 she suffered from severe metrorrhagia stated to be caused by uterine fibroids. A subtotal hysterectomy was performed in a country hospital, but the pathological details of this are not available. Since this operation and until the onset of the illness to be described, the patient was in excellent health. In July 1949, whilst a front-seat passenger in one of two colliding motor-cars, the patient's left side came into violent contact with the dashboard. Sustaining apparently minor abrasions of the left arm and recovering from the shock, she went home feeling well. That evening she noticed gradually increasing breathlessness and, in the early hours of the following morning, marked dyspnoea which confined her to bed. A harsh spasmodic cough developed, with the expectoration of a scanty but "rusty" sputum. Symptomatic treatment during the ensuing two months gave her little or no relief.