The accessory cardiac bronchus. Bronchologic aspect and review of the literature.

Bronchial anomalies, although rare, represent an important chapter of respiratory diseases, both because of their theoretical interest and practical significance in surgical practice. In this study we presented nine patients having ‘iiccessory cardiac bronchi which were discovered during systematic bronchoscopies performed for other diseases. Only in one case was this anomaly manifested by repeated cough and hemoptysis, without any other detectable cause. In all cases, the bronchus arose from the medial wall of the intermediate bronchus. In two cases, there were noted peculiar aspects of this anomalous bronchus: one of them was associated with a right tracheal bronchus and the other consisted of two accessory cardiac bronchi. The literature data show that this anomaly is congenital, being produced by a disorder occurring in the fifth week of embryonic life.