My watch list
my.bionity.com  
Login  

Tracheomalacia



Tracheomalacia
Classification & external resources
ICD-10 Q32.0
ICD-9 519.19, 748.3
DiseasesDB 31858
eMedicine med/2976  ped/2275

Tracheomalacia is a condition characterized by flaccidity of the tracheal support cartilage which leads to tracheal collapse especially when increased airflow is demanded.

Contents

Classification

There are three types:

  • Type 1 — congenital, sometimes associated with tracheo-esophageal fistula
  • Type 2 — extrinsic compression sometimes due to vascular rings
  • Type 3 — acquired due to chronic infection or prolonged intubation or inflammatory conditions like relapsing polychondritis

Presentation

The trachea normally dilates slightly during inspiration and narrows slightly during expiration. These processes are exaggerated in tracheomalacia, leading to airway collapse on expiration. The usual symptom of tracheomalacia is expiratory stridor or laryngeal crow.

Treatment

Some cases require surgery.[1] Tracheostomy and tracheal stents have been used.

See also

  • Tracheal collapse for the condition in dogs

References

  1. ^ van der Zee DC, Bax NM (2007). "Thoracoscopic tracheoaortopexia for the treatment of life-threatening events in tracheomalacia". Surgical endoscopy 21 (11): 2024–5. doi:10.1007/s00464-007-9250-8. PMID 17356936.
 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Tracheomalacia". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.
Your browser is not current. Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 does not support some functions on Chemie.DE