title: Severe tracheobronchial stenosis and bronchiectasis complicating ulcerative colitis.
abstract: A 37-year-old woman with a 20-year history of ulcerative colitis (UC) was admitted with complaints of cough and increasing sputum production. Chest computed tomography showed severe stenosis of the left main bronchus and bronchiectasis of the left lower lobe. Biopsy specimens from the area of bronchial stenosis showed chronic inflammation with lymphocyte infiltration, and we diagnosed respiratory involvement of UC. The bronchial stenosis was successfully treated with yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) laser. UC is a systemic illness with occasional extraintestinal manifestations, but upper airway involvement is rare, and to our knowledge, this is the first published report of UC complicated with bronchopulmonary lesions with successful YAG laser treatment of the main bronchial stenosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respirology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.affiliation: Department of Respirology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsushima
authors.affiliation: Department of General Thoracic Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sakairi
authors.affiliation: Department of General Thoracic Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Shigetoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.affiliation: Department of General Thoracic Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yoshino
authors.affiliation: Department of Respirology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Koichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tatsumi
keywords: Bronchiectasis; YAG laser; main bronchial stenosis; ulcerative colitis