Celal KARLIKAYA, Banu ALICIOĞLU

Tracheobronchomalacia and/or Excessive Dynamic Airway Collapse?

Expiratory airway collapse is defined as more than 50% reduction in the horizontal cross-sectional area of the airway at expiration or during coughing; and is due to pure tracheobronchomalacia (TBM) or excessive dynamic airway collapse (EDAC). It is not easy to make a clear differentiation between TBM and EDAC. These two conditions are different entities, yet they may be mistaken for each other and they may also coexist. In this paper we discuss differential diagnosis of EDAC and TBM in the light of fiberoptic and virtual bronchoscopic images according to a newly proposed FEMOS classification.

Keywords:

Tracheobronchomalacia tracheomalacia, bronchomalacia,

PDF

___

Feist JH, Johnson TH, Wilson RJ. Acquired tracheomalacia: etiol- ogy and differential diagnosis. Chest 1975;68:340-5.
Murgu SD, Colt HG. Description of a multidimensional classifica- tion system for patients with expiratory central airway collapse. Respirology 2007;12:543-50.
Murgu SD, Colt HG. Tracheobronchomalacia and excessive dy- namic airway collapse. Respirology. 2006;11:388-6.
Carden KA, Boiselle PM, Waltz DA, Ernst A. Tracheomalacia and tracheobronchomalacia in children and adults: an in-depth re- view. Chest 2005;127:984-5.
Gilkeson RC, Ciancibello LM, Hejal RB, Montenegro HD, Lange P. Tracheobronchomalacia: dynamic airway evaluation with multi- detector CT. Am J Roentgenol 2001;176:205-10.
Suto Y, Tanabe Y. Evaluation of tracheal collapsibility in patients with tracheomalacia using dynamic MR imaging during cough- ing. Am J Roentgenol 1998;171:393-4.
Boiselle PM, Ernst A. Recent advances in central airway imaging. Chest 2002;121:1651-60.
Marom EM, Goodman PC, McAdams HP. Diffuse abnormalities of the trachea and main bronchi. Am J Roentgenol 2001;176:713-7.
Ahel V, Banac S, Rozmanic V, Vukas D, Drescik I, Ahel VA, Jr. Aor- topexy and bronchopexy for the management of severe tracheo- malacia and bronchomalacia. Pediatr Int 2003;45:104-6.