• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.577-583
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• 1990

Subglottic stenosis is a disorder characterized by narrowing of the airway below the glottis. In children, the stenosis is usually due to scar formation secondary to prolonged airway intubation, rather than to external trauma. The location and extent of the stenosis are highly variable, consequently, corrective measures need to be selected to suit the individual problem. Conservative treatment is adequate for lesser degrees of stenosis but those with more severe scarring require external laryngeal surgery. We managed 2 children with subglottic stenosis due to prolonged intubation after open heart surgery who needed a resectional surgery of the stenotic upper airway. The preoperative evaluation and surgical technique for subglottic stenosis were reviewed.

• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.50-55
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• 2009

Objectives: Endoscopic airway dilatation and stenting has been developed to treat the airway stenosis without potential morbidities of open surgery. We report the clinical results of endoscopic airway dilatation with silicone stenting in patients with posttuberculous bronchial stenosis(PTBS) and with severe main tracheal stenosis who have poor general conditions Methods : A prospective observation study of five patients, who have undergone endoscopic airway dilatation and silicone stenting between Feb 2007 and Feb 2009. A total of twelve patients were treated with endoscopic airway dilatation, among them 5 patients were included in this study. three patients were treated with newly designed silicone stent (Natural stent: TNO Co., Seoul, South Korea) because of poor surgical conditions and longer stenotic segment Results: 3 patients were grade III PTBS, and the other 2 patients were grade IV post tracheotomy main tracheal stenosis. One patient of PTBS were treated with silicone stent following endoscopic dilatation because of longer stenotic segment. Two patients of main tracheal stenosis patients were treated with silicone stent because of tracheal lumen collapse. There was no severe postoperative complications except mild granulation tissue formations Conclusions : Endoscopic dilatation including silicone stenting could be a useful method for treating patients with PTBS, and for main tracheal stenosis patients with poor general surgical conditions

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.86 no.4
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• pp.245-250
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• 2023

The healing process of tracheobronchial tuberculosis (TB) results in tracheobronchial fibrosis causing airway stenosis in 11% to 42% of patients. In Korea, where pulmonary TB is still prevalent, post-TB tracheobronchial stenosis (PTTS) is one of the main causes of benign airway stenosis causing progressive dyspnea, hypoxemia, and often life-threatening respiratory insufficiency. The development of rigid bronchoscopy replaced surgical management 30 years ago, and nowadays PTTS is mainly managed by bronchoscopic intervention in Korea. Similar to pulmonary TB, tracheobronchial TB is treated with combination of anti-TB medications. The indication of rigid bronchoscopy is more than American Thoracic Society (ATS) grade 3 dyspnea in PTTS patients. First, the narrowed airway is dilated by multiple techniques including ballooning, laser resection, and bougienation under general anesthesia. Then, most of the patients need silicone stenting to maintain the patency of dilated airway; 1.5 to 2 years after indwelling, the stent could be removed, this has shown a 70% success rate. Acute complications without mortality develop in less than 10% of patients. Subgroup analysis showed successful removal of the stent was significantly associated with male sex, young age, good baseline lung function and absence of complete one lobe collapse. In conclusion, rigid bronchoscopy could be applied to PTTS patients with acceptable efficacy and tolerable safety.

• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.10-16
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• 2008

Surgical resection and reanastomosis has been the treatment of choice in patients with tracheobronchial stenosis. Recent development of bronchoscopic intervention has been replacing the role of surgery in these patients. After summarizing the upto date data of bronchoscopic intervention, the proper management of tracheobronchial stenosis will be presented. Bronchoscopic intervention would be much effective when performed under rigid bron- choscopy, due to the stable patients' condition and endoscopic view. The usual method of intervention includes ballooning, Nd-YAG laser resection, bougienation, mechanical airway dilatation, stenting and photodynamic therapy. Silicone stents are very effective in patients with tracheobronchial stenosis to maintain airway patency. Bronchoscopic intervention provided immediate symptomatic relief and improved lung function in most of patients. After airway stabilization, stents were removed successfully in 2/3 of the patients at a 12-18 months post-insertion. Less than 5% of patients eventually needs surgical management. Acute complications, including excessive bleeding, pneumothorax, and pneumomediastinum develops in less than 5% of patients but managed without mortality. Stent-related late complications, such as, migration, granuloma formation, mucostasis, and restenosis are relatively high but usually controlled by follow-up bronchoscopy. In conclusion, bronchoscopic intervention, including silicone stenting could be a useful and safe method for treating tracheobronchial stenosis.

• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.327-331
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• 1997

One of the most difficult airway problems is a subglottic stenosis combined with a tracheal stenosis. Laryngotracheal stenosis has not been completely solved with classic methods like cricotracheal split with autogenous cartilage graft, thyrotracheal anastomosis, and free hyoid or hyoid-sternohyoid myo-osseous flap reconstruction. A 28-near-old male patient who had had laryngotracheal stenosis was successfully treated by laryngotracheal reconstruction using vascularized clavicle. This method has a several advantages: the vascularized clavicle harvesting in the same operative fields, one stage operation, less restenosis due to plentyful blood supply, md prevention of airway collapse due to a clavicle provided framework. It is too early to make a definite conclusion, but the authors suggested that this method could become one of the most effective methods of laryngotracheal stenosis.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.72 no.6
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• pp.486-492
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• 2012

Background: The aim of this study was to analyze clinical situations requiring rigid bronchoscopy and evaluate usefulness of rigid bronchoscopic intervention in benign or malignant airway disorders. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 29 patients who underwent rigid bronchoscopy from November 2007 to February 2011 at St. Paul's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea School of Medicine. Results: Of the 29 patients, the most frequent underlying etiology was benign stenosis of trachea (n=20). Of those 20 patients, 16 had post-intubation tracheal stenosis (PITS), 2 had tracheal stenosis due to inhalation burn (IBTS) and other 2 had obstructive fibrinous tracheal pseudomembrane (OFTP). Other etiologies were airway malignancy (n=6), endobronchial stenosis due to tuberculosis (n=2), and foreign body (n=1). For treatment, silicone stent insertion was done in 16 cases of PITS and IBTS and mechanical removal was performed in 2 cases of OFTP. In 6 cases of malignant airway obstruction mechanical debulking was performed and silicone stents were inserted additionally in 2 cases. Balloon dilatation and electrocautery were used in 2 cases of endobronchial stenosis due to tuberculosis. In all cases of stent, airway obstructive symptom improved immediately. Granulation tissue formation was the most common complication. Conclusion: Tracheal stenosis was most common indication and silicone stenting was most common procedure of rigid bronchoscopy in our center. Rigid bronchoscopic procedures, at least tracheal silicone stenting, should be included in pulmonary medicine fellowship programs because it is a very effective and indispensable method to relieve critical airway obstruction which needs training to learn.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.40 no.12
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• pp.874-877
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• 2007

Airway management is difficult problem in severe tracheal stenosis. A total airway obstruction during the procedure resulted in a fatal outcome. We suggest a tracheostomy assisted with an emergency bypass system as a possible method for avoiding this complication.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.59 no.1
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• pp.62-68
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• 2005

Background : The clinical results of a Natural stent in patients with a benign tracheobronchial stenosis were examined by comparing the clinical outcomes and complications of those patients who underwent Dumon and Natural stenting in the management of benign airway stenosis. Methods : The medical records of 94 patients (39 Dumon and 55 Natural stent) with a benign tracheobronchial stenosis were reviewed and analyzed. Results : Post-tuberculous stenosis was the leading indication for airway stenting (74%), which was followed by post-intubation stenosis (21%). After intervention, the dyspnea had improved among those patients who underwent Dumon (90%) and Natural (86%) stenting. After stabilizing the dyspnea, the stent could be successfully removed in half of the patients who underwent both Dumon (54%) and Natural (49%) stenting. During the 42 month follow-up period, the complication rate was similar in those patients who underwent Dumon and Natural stenting: migration (46% vs 53%), granulation tissue formation (36% vs 49%), mucostasis (21% vs 16%) and restenosis (51% vs 36%). Conclusion : The clinical results of Natural airway stent was similar to those of Dumon stent in the management of benign tracheobronchial stenosis.

• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.43-51
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• 1998

Background： Three-dementional imaging with spiral CT(3D spiral CT) is a well established imaging modality which has been investigated in various clinical settings. However the 3D spiral CT in upper airway disease is rarely reported and its results are still obscure. Objectives： To access the usefulness of 3D spiral CT imaging in patients with upper airway diseases. Materials and Methods We performed 3D spiral CT in fourteen patients In whom upper airway diseases were clinically suspected. Nine of these patients had upper airway stenosis, two had laryngeal cartilage fracture, and three had laryngo-hypopharyngeal cancer. For evaluation of location and extent of the lesions, we compared the findings of 3D imaging with those of air tracheogram, conventional 2D CT images, endoscopic and operative findings. Results： In case of stenosis, 3D spiral CT provide significant useful information, particularly the site and length of the stenotic segment. But, it was difficult to define the fracture of the laryngeal framework and to detect the cartilagenous invasion by head and neck cancer using the 3D imaging. Conclusion : The 3D spiral CT was an useful adjunctive method to assess some kind of upper airway disease but not in others. So, we should compare the findings of 3D images with those of other diagnostic tools for accurate diagnosis of the upper airway disease.

• Proceedings of the KOR-BRONCHOESO Conference
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• 1993.05a
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• pp.80-80
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• 1993

Airway stenosis in children may be classified into congenital and acquired forms. The incidence of acquired forms is increasing mainly due to increase in prolonged intubation and trauma. In congenital stenosis with significantly compromised airway, the patient may be tracheotomized and allowed some waiting period while expecting spontaneous resolution as the child grows. However, with this treatment policy, there is a considerably higher mortality and morbidity for the acquired disease as to often warrant surgical reconstruction. The authors reviewed the medical records of 22 pediatric patients under the age of 15 who have had airway reconstruction at the authors' department from the beginning of January, 1988 through the end of December, 1992. The prognosis was analyzed in light of the etiology, site and severity of the stenosis, and the type of reconstructive measures.