OBJECTIVE To examine the prevalence of upper airway anomalies in patients diagnosed with congenital tracheoesophageal fistula and esophageal atresia (TEF/EA). METHODS A retrospective review was conducted of all TEF/EA patients seen at a tertiary pediatric hospital between January 2008 and December 2013. Inclusion criteria included evaluation by the otolaryngology service. Exclusion criteria i...

Anesthetic management of patients with retrosternal goiter remains challenging as acute airway compromise may occur both during induction and recovery of anesthesia. We report the case of a 51 year old lady with retrosternal goiter and tracheal deviation who underwent total thyroidectomy. Comprehensive contingency plans were an essential prerequisite for successful management of difficult airwa...

Pathological collapsibility of the upper airways, caused by many different genetic and environmental insults, is known as tracheomalacia in humans. We determined that Tmem16a, a member of an evolutionarily conserved family of predicted transmembrane proteins, is expressed in the developing trachea. We report that all mice homozygous for a null allele of Tmem16a died within one month of birth an...

OBJECTIVE To determine the sensitivity and specificity of airway fluoroscopy in the diagnosis of pediatric laryngotracheal abnormalities. DESIGN Retrospective chart review. SETTING Tertiary care children's hospital. PATIENTS Thirty-nine children, with a mean age of 18 months at the time of evaluation, were evaluated for stridor. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Diagnoses made by airway fluoroscopy...

A 60-pack-year smoker presented with cough, dyspnea and orthopnea of three months' duration. Spirometry revealed severe reduction in maximal expiratory flow; CT of the chest and bronchoscopy demonstrated expiratory collapse of a mid-tracheal segment, and a presumptive diagnosis of tracheomalacia was made. A right lateral thoracotomy was performed to resect the unstable segment and improve maxim...

BACKGROUND Esophageal atresia (EA), tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF), or both is a complicated problem. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcomes and postoperative complications in patients with EA/TEF who were admitted to our hospital. METHODS In total, 15 patients were enrolled from 1994 to 2003, including 8 males and 7 females. Patient demographics, associated anomalies, and ou...