[A case of foreign body granuloma due to aspiration of a twig of Cryptomeria].

A 65-year-old man was admitted to Oita Medical School Hospital with complaints of hemoptysis and left anterior chest pain. Chest X-ray film showed a nodular shadow, about 1 cm in diameter, in the left S8 area. A specimen obtained by transbronchial biopsy showed no malignant findings. However, left lower lobectomy was performed because of the possibility of malignancy. The resected specimen contained a twig of cryptomeria within dark-red lung tissue. Histologically, the foreign body granuloma was surrounding a vegetable fiber. We had no information of an episode of pruning a cryptomeria and aspiration of a twig before the operation. Cryptomeria is an extremely rare bronchopulmonary foreign body, and the present case suggests that bronchopulmonary foreign body granuloma is an important disease in the differential diagnosis of pulmonary nodules.