Open AccessA New Technique for the Examination of Tracheal Tumors
Author(s) -
Shinichi Yamamoto,
Toshio Endo,
Kenji Tetsuka,
Shunsuke Endo
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of bronchology and interventional pulmonology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.648
H-Index - 33
eISSN - 1944-6586
pISSN - 1948-8270
DOI - 10.1097/lbr.0b013e3181eaefe1
Subject(s) - medicine , bronchoscopy , lesion , flexible bronchoscopy , lumen (anatomy) , airway , radiology , surgery
Flexible bronchoscopy is useful for confirming an endotracheal tumor. However, observation of the distal end of the tumor is difficult because of the presence of the lesion itself. Here we describe a technique that we termed "bronchoscopic turned around procedure," which can be used to observe the distal extent of the lesion using an ultrathin bronchoscope. The scope is passed distal to the endotracheal tumor and is flexed upward by 180 degrees in the trachea for full visualization of the distal extent of the lesion and the airway anatomy. We found this procedure to be an effective technique to assess surgical candidates by confirming the surface structure of the tracheal lumen, which cannot be obtained by computed tomography or virtual bronchoscopy.