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Tracheobronchomalacia

  • Chapter
CT of the Airways

Part of the book series: Contemporary Medical Imaging ((CMI))

Summary

Tracheomalacia is a condition characterized by weakness of the airway walls and/or supporting cartilage, resulting in excessive expiratory collapse. It may be either congenital or acquired. Although the earliest reports of this condition date to the 1930s and 1940s, it has only recently been recognized as a relatively common and potentially treatable cause of chronic cough, dyspnea, and recurrent infections. The diagnosis relies upon identification of excessive collapsibility of the airway during expiration or other functional maneuvers. Although bronchoscopy has been widely considered as the reference gold standard for diagnosis, recent advances in CT imaging provide the opportunity to non-invasively diagnose this condition with similar accuracy to bronchoscopy. This chapter provides a comprehensive review of the current knowledge of this condition, including its epidemiology, histopathology, clinical features, natural history, diagnosis, and treatment. A special emphasis is placed upon the evolving role of multidetector-row CT for diagnosing this condition.

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Authors
  1. Ronaldo Hueb Baroni
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  2. Rodrigo Caruso Chate
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  3. Daniel Nobrega da Costa
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  4. Phillip M. Boiselle
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

    Phillip M. Boiselle MD

  2. Department of Radiology, National Jewish Medical and Research Center, Denver, CO

    David A. Lynch MB

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© 2008 Humana Press

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Baroni, R.H., Chate, R.C., Costa, D.N.d., Boiselle, P.M. (2008). Tracheobronchomalacia. In: Boiselle, P.M., Lynch, D.A. (eds) CT of the Airways. Contemporary Medical Imaging. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-139-0_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-139-0_8

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-58829-848-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59745-139-0

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