Central airway obstruction caused by a peripheral hamartoma

We report the first case of a hamartoma, arising from peripheral lung tissue, which extended proximally over several decades to occlude the large airways. The patient's symptoms were originally attributed to asthma and the correct diagnosis was only made when she developed life-threatening airway obstruction. The endobronchial component of the hamartoma was debulked with urgent laser therapy, while the peripheral base of the tumour was resected by elective right middle lobectomy.