title: Tracheobronchial stenting in an infant with an anomalous right main bronchus.
abstract: Congenital anomalies of the right main bronchi have not been fully described. Bronchial anomalies are usually asymptomatic unless they coexist with other abnormalities. We describe a rare bronchial anomaly in a 2-month-old girl in which the right upper lobe, middle lobe, and lower lobe bronchi all originated at the same point as a result of a developmental teratogenic long right main bronchus and an absent bronchus intermedius. Furthermore, the left main bronchus contained a proximal segment of stenosis. This combination of anomalies, along with right upper lobe atelectasis and left-sided hyperinflation, resulted in a severe right mediastinal shift and respiratory distress. The mediastinum was returned to midline with endoscopic placement of an in-dwelling tracheobronchial stent into the left main bronchus. To the best of our knowledge, the specific developmental anomaly in our patient has not been previously described.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Flagler Hospital, St. Augustine, Fla, USA. kdepasquale@saent.net
authors.forename: Kalpana S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Depasquale
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Tucker
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wolfson
authors.forename: Laurie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Varlotta
mesh_terms: D001980:Bronchi / Q000002:abnormalities*; D001982:Bronchial Diseases / Q000151:congenital* / Q000628:therapy; D001999:Bronchoscopy; D003251:Constriction, Pathologic / Q000151:congenital / Q000628:therapy; D004200:Diseases in Twins; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007442:Intubation, Intratracheal / Q000295:instrumentation; D012127:Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D012135:Respiratory Sounds / Q000209:etiology; D015607:Stents; D014139:Tracheostomy / Q000295:instrumentation