Typical pulmonary carcinoid tumour

Typical pulmonary carcinoid tumour is a subtype of pulmonary carcinoid tumour. It is an uncommon low-grade malignant lung mass that is most often in the central airways of the lung.

Signs and symptoms
Lung carcinoids typically present with a cough or hemoptysis. Findings may closely mimic malignant tumours of the lung, i.e. lung cancer.

Diagnosis
The definitive diagnosis is rendered by a microscopic examination, after excision. Typical carcinoids have cells with stippled chromatin and a moderate quantity of cytoplasm. They typically have few mitoses and lack necrosis. By definition, they are greater than 4 mm in largest dimension; smaller lesions are referred to as pulmonary carcinoid tumourlets.

The differential diagnosis of typical pulmonary carcinoid tumour includes: atypical pulmonary carcinoid tumour, pulmonary carcinoid tumourlet and lung adenocarcinoma.

Treatment
Typical carcinoids are usually treated with surgical excision.