title: Extensive plastic bronchitis: etiology of a rare condition.
abstract: We present the case of a 55-year-old man who developed extensive occlusive bronchial casts after trachea-esophageal (TE) fistula repair. The bronchial casts were treated by bronchoscopic extraction, high dose steroids, antibiotics, and antifungals. Despite this multi-modality treatment, the rapid formation of these occlusive bronchial casts was very aggressive and could not be controlled even with a series of five rigid bronchoscopic extractions within a 48-hour period. The patient quickly deteriorated and succumbed to the inflammatory state. The multiple factors that might have led to the patient's bronchial cast formation are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Garcia-Henriquez
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USA; ;
authors.forename: Eric M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Toloza
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USA; ; Department of Pathology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Farah
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Khalil
authors.affiliation: Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Maria F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Echavarria
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Garrett
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Carla C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Moodie
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USA; ; Department of Pulmonary-Critical Care Medicine, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Frank J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Kaszuba
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USA; ;
authors.forename: Jacques P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Fontaine
keywords: Enterococcus; bronchial casts; bronchitis plastica; pneumonia