Sunday, October 28, 2007
12610

Assessment of Tracheo-bronchial anomalies in patients with Syndromic craniosynostosis

Hiroshi Matsumoto, MD, Keisuke Imai, MD, Akira Yamada, MD, Kuniyuki Morimoto, MD, Heishiro Fujikawa, MD, Hiroaki Sakamoto, MD, and Tomoaki Nakano, MD.

Patients with syndromic craniosynostosis have the problems of the upper airway, the laryngotracheal airway and the tracheo-bronchial tree. Accurate diagnosis is very important in the evaluation of tacheo-bronchial disorder of syndromic craniosynostosis. In this study the configuration of the tracheo-bronchial system is assessed on CT and with a bronchoscope. For four years since 2002, 23 patients with syndromic craniosynostosis have undergone gradual distraction at Osaka City General Hospital. Of those, 8 cases had tracheostomy. Seven cases of syndromic craniosynostosis were examined a 3-dimentional CT of the tracheo-bronchial system and a bronchoscope. One case had to be excluded because of lack of CT records. In three cases 3 dimensional CT images and bronchoscopic findings revealed sever tracheo-bronchial stenosis. In two cases bronchoscopic findings showed tracheal cartilaginous sleeve and 3-D CT images had no finding. Two cases had no findings on these examinations. It was possible that the configuration of the tracheo-bronchial system was accurately diagnosed by the examination of both 3-D CT and a bronchoscope. It is suggested that these examinations are very useful to assess the timing of the decanulation and prognosis of respiratory function.
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