Chest ACCP Member Benefits
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Guest Access | Sign In via User Name/Password
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Free
Right arrow Full Text (PDF) Free
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Article Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (4)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Chan, K. P. W.
Right arrow Articles by Chow, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Chan, K. P. W.
Right arrow Articles by Chow, M.
(Chest. 2002;122:1069-1072.)
© 2002 American College of Chest Physicians

Rigid Bronchoscopy and Stenting for Esophageal Cancer Causing Airway Obstruction*

Kenneth Ping Wah Chan, MBBS, MMed; Philip Eng, MBBS, FCCP; Anne A.L. Hsu, MBBS, FCCP; Goh Meng Huat, MBBS, MMed and Mark Chow, MBBS, MMed

* From the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore.

Correspondence to: Kenneth Ping Wah Chan, MBBS, MMed, Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Singapore General Hospital, Outram Rd, Singapore 169608; e-mail: gm3cpw{at}sgh.com.sg

Background: Thirty percent of patients with esophageal cancer have malignant involvement of the major airways, leading to respiratory distress and life-threatening major airway obstruction. Tracheobronchial stenting has been reported to be effective in providing sustained relief from obstruction.

Methods: We conducted a chart review of all patients with advanced inoperable esophageal cancer who had malignant tracheobronchial obstruction requiring rigid bronchoscopy and airway stenting at our institution between June 1998 and July 2001. Outcome measures, which included survival, efficacy, and complications, were recorded.

Results: There were 11 patients (4 women) with a mean age of 61 years. Five patients had distant metastases at the time they underwent rigid bronchoscopy. Four patients who required mechanical ventilation for respiratory failure were successfully weaned off mechanical ventilation after the stenting procedure. All patients with dyspnea had immediate relief of respiratory symptoms, which was sustained for seven patients (64%). The mean duration of survival was 61 days. Two patients required repeat procedures, one for stent dislodgment on extubation and the other for stent migration.

Conclusion: Stenting in patients with malignant tracheobronchial obstructions due to advanced esophageal cancer achieves immediate, dramatic, and sustainable relief in respiratory symptoms, conferring a survival benefit in patients whose conditions are otherwise deemed to be terminal.

Key Words: airway obstruction • esophageal cancer • mechanical ventilation • rigid bronchoscopy • stent




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Ann. Thorac. Surg.Home page
B. P. Madden, J. E. S. Park, and A. Sheth
Medium-Term Follow-Up After Deployment of Ultraflex Expandable Metallic Stents to Manage Endobronchial Pathology
Ann. Thorac. Surg., December 1, 2004; 78(6): 1898 - 1902.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2002 by the American College of Chest Physicians.