Williams–Campbell syndrome: a case report

Maria Konoglou¹, Konstantinos Porpodis², Paul Zarogoulidis², Nikolaos Loridas¹, Nikolaos Katsikogiannis³, Alexandros Mitrakas², Vasilis Zervas², Theodoros Kontakiotis², Despoina Papakosta², Panagiotis Boglou⁴, Stamatia Bakali⁵, Nikolaos Courcoutsakis⁶, Konstantinos Zarogoulidis^2
1First Pulmonary Clinic, "G. Papanikolaou" General Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece; ²Pulmonary Department, "G. Papanikolaou" General Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece; ³Surgery Department (NHS), University General Hospital of Alexandroupolis, Greece; ⁴Pulmonary Department, University General Hospital of Alexandroupolis, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece; ⁵Microbiology Department, University General Hospital of Alexandroupolis, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece; ⁶Radiology Department, University General Hospital of Alexandroupolis, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece

Introduction: Williams–Campbell syndrome, also known as bronchomalacia, is a rare disorder characterized by a deficiency of cartilage in subsegmental bronchi, leading to distal airway collapse and bronchiectasis. There have been few reports about patients affected by saccular bronchiectasis, paracicatricial emphysema, and diminished cartilage. These are all characteristic of Williams–Campbell syndrome.
Case presentation: This report presents a 57-year-old woman with progressive dyspnea, cough, sputum production, and fever. The clinical and laboratory examination revealed that the patient had a respiratory infection due to bronchiectasis caused by Williams–Campbell syndrome, which was undiagnosed in the patient until then.
Conclusion: Although a rare syndrome, when patients' signs and symptoms include recurrent respiratory infections, bronchiectasis, productive cough, and dyspnea, Williams–Campbell syndrome should be included in the differential diagnosis.

Keywords: bronchietasis, Williams–Campbell syndrome, bronchomalacia