title: Wegener's granulomatosis appearing initially in the trachea.
abstract: We treated ten patients with Wegener's granulomatosis whose clinical picture differed only in stage of the disease at the time of the first visit. All patients were female with a mean age of 30 years and all presented with a picture of high tracheal obstruction. Three died and six have a permanent tracheostomy. Surgical treatment was unsuccessful; corticosteroids provided only transient improvement but cyclophosphamide induced remission. Removal of the stenosis either by open surgery or endoscopically by laser was not successful in accomplishing decannulation.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D014890:Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D014135:Tracheal Stenosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy