Resection of the Trachea Infiltrated by Thyroid Carcinoma

Abstract

Thyroid carcinoma patients (24) with infiltration of the trachea were treated surgically. The histological diagnosis in these cases included papillary adenocarcinoma in 22 patients, medullary carcinoma in 1 patient and undifferentiated carcinoma in 1 patient. In 19 of the patients hemoptysis was noted; dyspnea was present in 10 patients. In 14 of the 24 patients the carcinoma was diagnosed by radiographs of the neck; in 7 patients it was demonstrated bronchoscopically. In 3 patients tracheal infiltration by thyroid carcinoma was diagnosed by biopsy of the tracheal wall at operation. When the tracheal wall was infiltrated by thyroid carcinoma, treatment consisted of circumferential resection of the involved segment of the trachea followed by an end-to-end anastomosis. Of the 24 patients, 17 survived and 6 died. In the 17 patients who survived, 13 were disease-free. Of this number, 6 survived > 5 yr after the initial tracheal resection.