Figure 1

Intraluminal tracheal tumor causing severe airway obstruction. Note the nice correlation between the virtual endoscopic image and the fiberoptic bronchoscopy performed later, which confirmed the diagnosis of a rare case of hamartoma. On one hand fiberoptic bronchoscopy provides the opportunity of biopsy and gross evaluation of the disease, but on the other hand it lacks the ability to navigate distal to an obstructive lesion, like in this case where virtual endoscopy showed a normally patent tracheobronchial tree distal to the hamartoma (images not included).