Variation in subglottic size in children. (1/197)

The incidence of variation in the subglottic size was investigated in 3304 infants and children. A mild degree of congenital subglottic stenosis was found in 0.91% and a moderate degree of stenosis in 0.06% of the patients. A mild degree of congenital subglottic enlargement was noted in 0.7% and moderate enlargement in 0.06% of the patients.  (+info)

Localised upper airway obstruction in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. (2/197)

We describe a case of rapidly progressive upper airway obstruction due to tracheal Pseudomonas abscesses in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. The case highlights the aggressive nature of Pseudomonas infections and the difficulty of eradicating this organism in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus.  (+info)

Tracheobronchial malacia and stenosis in children in intensive care: bronchograms help to predict oucome. (3/197)

BACKGROUND: Severe tracheobronchial malacia and stenosis are important causes of morbidity and mortality in children in intensive care, but little is known about how best to diagnose these conditions or determine their prognosis. METHODS: The records of all 62 children in whom one or both of these conditions had been diagnosed by contrast cinetracheobronchography in our intensive care unit in the period 1986-95 were studied. RESULTS: Seventy four per cent of the 62 children had congenital heart disease; none was a preterm baby with airways disease associated with prolonged ventilation. Fifteen of the children had airway stenosis without malacia; three died because of the stenosis and two died from other causes. Twenty eight of the 47 children with malacia died; only eight children survived without developmental or respiratory handicap. All children needing ventilation for malacia for longer than 14 consecutive days died if their bronchogram showed moderate or severe malacia of either main bronchus (15 cases), or malacia of any severity of both bronchi (three additional cases); all children needing ventilation for malacia for longer than 21 consecutive days died if their bronchogram showed malacia of any severity of the trachea or a main bronchus (three additional cases). These findings were strongly associated with a fatal outcome (p<0.00005); they were present in 21 children (all of whom died) and absent in 26 (of whom seven died, six from non-respiratory causes). They had a positive predictive value for death of 100%, but the lower limit of the 95% confidence interval was 83.9% so up to 16% of patients meeting the criteria might survive. CONCLUSION: In this series the findings on contrast cinetracheobronchography combined with the duration of ventilation provided a useful guide to the prognosis of children with tracheobronchomalacia. The information provided by bronchoscopy was less useful.  (+info)

Multidisciplinary approach to management of postintubation tracheal stenoses. (4/197)

The optimal management of postintubation tracheal stenosis is not well defined. A therapeutic algorithm was designed by thoracic surgeons, ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeons, anaesthetists and pulmonologists. Rigid bronchoscopy with neodymium-yttrium aluminium garnet (Nd-YAG) laser resection or stent implantation (removable stent) was proposed as first-line treatment, depending on the type of stenosis (web-like versus complex stenosis). In patients with web-like stenoses, sleeve resection was proposed when laser treatment (up to three sessions) failed. In patients with complex stenoses, operability was assessed 6 months after stent implantation. If the patient was judged operable, the stent was removed and the patient underwent surgery if the stenosis recurred. This algorithm was validated prospectively in a series of 32 consecutive patients. Three patients died from severe coexistent illness shortly after the first bronchoscopy. Of the 15 patients with web-like stenosis, laser resection was curative in 10 (66%). Among the 17 patients with complex stenoses, three remained symptom-free after stent removal. Bronchoscopy alone was thus curative in more than one-third of the patients. Six patients underwent surgery, two after failure of laser resection and four after failure of temporary stenting. Surgery was always performed with the patient in good operative condition. Palliative stenting was the definitive treatment in nine cases. Tracheostomy was the definitive solution in two cases. This approach, including an initial conservative treatment, depending on the type of the stenosis, appears to be applicable to almost all patients and allows secondary surgery to be performed with the patient in good condition.  (+info)

Fetal tracheal occlusion in the rat model of nitrofen-induced congenital diaphragmatic hernia. (5/197)

Prenatal tracheal occlusion (TO) consistently accelerates lung growth in the sheep model of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). However, significant variability in lung growth has been observed in early clinical trials of TO. We hypothesized that lung hypoplasia created at relatively late stages of lung development may not be equivalent to human CDH-induced lung hypoplasia, which begins early in gestation. To test this hypothesis, we performed TO in the rat model of nitrofen-induced CDH. Left-sided CDH was induced by administering 100 mg of nitrofen to timed pregnant rats on day 9 of gestation. On day 19 of gestation, four to five fetuses per dam underwent surgical ligation of the trachea. At death (day 21.5), lungs from non-CDH (non-CDH group), left-CDH (CDH group), and trachea-occluded left-CDH fetuses (CDH-TO group) were harvested and compared by weight, DNA and protein content, and stereological morphometry. Wet and dry lung weight-to-body weight ratio, total lung DNA and protein contents, the volume of lung parenchyma, and the total saccular surface area of the CDH-TO group were significantly increased relative to the CDH group and were either greater than or comparable to the non-CDH controls. We conclude that TO accelerates lung growth and increases lung parenchyma in an early-onset model of CDH-induced lung hypoplasia.  (+info)

Respiratory distress due to tracheal compression by the dilated innominate artery. (6/197)

The case reported is of an 88 yr old female with hypertension and respiratory distress. A chest radiograph revealed a widening of the upper mediastinum. Computed tomographic scanning revealed tracheal compression by the innominate artery, which was elongated and curved. After intubation, she was treated with antihypertensive drugs. This resulted in the remarkable recovery of the patient from respiratory distress. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first reported case of respiratory distress owing to tracheal compression by elongation and curvature of the innominate artery.  (+info)

A new bronchoscopic method to measure airway size. (7/197)

Bronchoscopic evaluation of stenosis is limited due to radial distortion of bronchoscopic images and the unknown distance between the endoscope and the stenotic area. The purpose of this study was the development and validation of a method for measuring cross-sectional areas in large airways. Distance measurements were performed using a laser probe inserted into the working channel of a bronchoscope. The laser probe was positioned to the locus of interest in the airway, a ring of light (helium/neon) projected on to the luminal wall and the images acquired using an electronic bronchoscope. The images taken were distortion-corrected by means of a computer program. The method was validated by simulating airways using tubes of known diameter. Additionally, distortion-corrected bronchoscopic images were compared with distortion-free videoscopic image analysis of tracheal slices taken from pigs. In the case of the plastic tubes, Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) as well as the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were slightly higher (r=0.99, p<0.01, ICC=0.97) than the correlation of cross-sectional areas between bronchoscopic and videoscopic images of tracheal slices (r=0.88, p<0.01, ICC=0.87). This concept allows accurate and reproducible determination of cross-sectional areas in large airways.  (+info)

Severe tracheobronchial stenosis in a patient with Crohn's disease. (8/197)

Tracheobronchial involvement in Crohn's disease is rare, usually associated with symptoms of tracheobronchitis, and typically responds well to steroids. The authors report a case of a 29-yr old patient with Crohn's disease, who presented with dyspnoea, fever, and a productive cough. Computed tomography of the chest revealed extensive nodular tracheobronchial stenosis, that was accompanied by severe mucosal inflammation at bronchoscopy. High-dose oral steroids diminished the mucosal inflammation, but had limited efficacy on the underlying tracheobronchial stenosis. It is speculated that this relative ineffectiveness of steroids may be due to the persistence of the untreated inflammatory process.  (+info)