title: Fatal complication from a balloon-expandable tracheal stent in a child: a case report.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The use of airway stents in the pediatric population is uncommon, reflected in the few patient series reported in the literature. We describe a fatal complication of tracheal stent placement in an 18-month-old child with spondylothoracic dysplasia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case report.
  
  
  METHODS
  Intensive care unit of a tertiary academic pediatric center.
  
  
  METHODS
  An 18-month-old child with spondylothoracic dysplasia who underwent tracheal stent placement for tracheomalacia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Management of an acute upper-airway hemorrhage.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The patient died, despite aggressive interventions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Use of tracheal stents in pediatric patients with tracheomalacia is not without risks; tracheal erosion with severe hemoptysis is an infrequent but devastating complication of this intervention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: William H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Stotz
authors.forename: Ivor D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Berkowitz
authors.forename: Jeff C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Hoehner
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Tunkel
mesh_terms: D002404:Catheterization / Q000009:adverse effects*; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D010009:Osteochondrodysplasias / Q000150:complications; D015607:Stents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014135:Tracheal Stenosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*