title: An unusual case of congenital short trachea with very long bronchi mimicking bronchial asthma.
abstract: Case reports of a short trachea with early branching of the main bronchi are uncommon. The case is presented of a 64 year old woman with upper airway obstruction due to this anatomical abnormality which caused breathlessness and wheezing that was misdiagnosed (and treated) as bronchial asthma for many years.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica Sperimentale, Clinica di Malattie dell'Apparato Respiratorio, Centro di Ricerca su Asma e BPCO, University of Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ravenna
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Caramori
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Panella
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Papi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Benea
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Adcock
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Barnes
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ciaccia
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001980:Bronchi / Q000002:abnormalities*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010366:Peak Expiratory Flow Rate / Q000502:physiology; D012135:Respiratory Sounds / Q000209:etiology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods; D014132:Trachea / Q000002:abnormalities*