TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Pediatric Primary and Secondary Lung Tumors A1 - Weldon, Christopher B. A1 - Shamberger, Robert C. A2 - Sugarbaker, David J. A2 - Bueno, Raphael A2 - Colson, Yolonda L. A2 - Jaklitsch, Michael T. A2 - Krasna, Mark J. A2 - Mentzer, Steven J. A2 - Williams, Marcia A2 - Adams, Ann PY - 2015 T2 - Adult Chest Surgery, 2e AB - Pediatric pulmonary tumors are extremely uncommon entities without a unifying presenting symptomatology, clear diagnostic strategy, or definitive therapeutic regimens. Patients may present with all manner of symptoms or complaints, and these concerns are almost always nonspecific. Secondary to their rarity and the heterogeneous nature of the presenting findings, tumors are seldom thought of as the causative factor for a child presenting to a primary care provider with respiratory complaints, especially in light of the prevalence of other, far more common diseases in young patients such as reactive airway disease, upper and lower respiratory infections, or even inhaled/ingested aerodigestive foreign bodies. The published data document that the proportion of benign lesions to metastatic lesions to primary malignancies is on the order of 60:5:1.1,2 As such, the most critical factor in diagnosing these lesions is a high index of suspicion, especially if symptoms do not abate with the intended treatment strategies directed at the suspected underlying causative agent (i.e., asthma that is refractory to standard therapies or the respiratory infection that fails to resolve in a timely fashion with appropriate antimicrobial drugs). There is often a significant delay then, from the initial presentation to a healthcare provider and definitive histopathologic diagnosis. Staging, treatment strategies, and outcomes will be tumor-specific, but surgery generally plays a critical role if cure is to be achieved in all lesions. SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/04/19 UR - accesssurgery.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1105843771 ER -