STUDY OBJECTIVE To compare the surgical findings of tracheal stenosis caused by percutaneous tracheostomy (PCT) and surgical tracheostomy (SGT). DESIGN AND SETTING A combined prospective (from 2001 to 2003) and retrospective (from 1993 to 2001) observational study of the patients undergoing tracheal resection and reconstruction for treatment of tracheal stenosis following PCT or SGT in a nati...

BACKGROUND Ectopic substernal thyroid is a rare symptom of thyroid disease that entirely results from the developmental defects at early stages of thyroid embryogenesis and during its descent. Cases were seldom reported as primary ectopic substernal thyroid cancer, especially those with severe local invasion and tracheal relapse. CASE PRESENTATION In this report, the patient presented odynoph...

In 1994 a 44-yr-old male was admitted for surgical resection of a hard, not painful, nodule which was believed to originate from the isthmus of the thyroid gland. He was known to have mild asthma, treated with inhaled corticosteroids and shortacting b2-agonists. His medical record revealed a smoking history of 20 pack-yrs. The patient denied any other symptoms, except the presence of the nodule...

To the Editor:-The optimal breathing tube for use during resection and reconstruction of proximal and midtracheal lesions should be a long, flexible, reinforced tube that can be manipulated easily during surgery without kinking.’ The tube should have a short, low-pressure, highvolume cuff and a very short segment beyond the cuff to allow bilateral lung ventilation through short tracheal stumps....

Intramural bronchogenic cysts are extremely rare. We describe the case of an intramural bronchogenic cyst in a 2 year old boy who underwent tracheal resection and end-to-end anastomosis.