title: A case of idiopathic tracheal stenosis.
abstract: Idiopathic tracheal stenosis (ITS) is an extremely rare disease. We report the case of a 32-year-old woman with ITS. She had no history of previous surgery, endotracheal intubation, neck trauma, granulomatous disease, or any other severe respiratory tract infections. She presented with progressive dyspnea on effort and had been treated for bronchial asthma for 3 years. Chest radiography and laboratory examinations revealed no abnormalities. Bronchoscopy demonstrated almost circumferential tracheal stenosis extending for 10 mm from about 20 mm below the vocal cords. Luminal diameter was about 4 mm at the narrowest. Bronchoscopic biopsy revealed increased fibrous tissue and chronic inflammatory cell infiltration (nonspecific inflammatory tissue). These finding are compatible with idiopathic stenosis as reported by Grillo et al. After tracheostomy, the patient was treated by tracheal segmental resection (two rings) with end-to-end anastomosis of the cartilaginous trachea. Symptoms of tracheal stenosis were completely relieved and no recurrence has been observed as of 3 years postoperatively.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Hyogo College of Medicine, 1-1 Mukogawa, Hyogo 663-8501, Nishinomiya, Japan. chatta@cwo2.bai.ne.jp
authors.forename: Chihiro
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hatta
authors.forename: Tomonori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Terada
authors.forename: Masao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kakibuchi
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ogasawara
authors.forename: Keiji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakasho
authors.forename: Masafumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sakagami
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical; D001999:Bronchoscopy; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006099:Granuloma / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D012135:Respiratory Sounds / Q000209:etiology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014135:Tracheal Stenosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D014139:Tracheostomy; D014140:Tracheotomy