A Case of Congenital Short Trachea Combined with Laryngeal Cleft

Chahee Kwun; Ho Seok Lee; Jung Seok Yoo; Jihyun Kim; Young-Ik Son; Kangmo Ahn

doi:10.7581/pard.2012.22.3.312

Journal List > Pediatr Allergy Respir Dis > v.22(3) > 1033189

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Kwun, Lee, Yoo, Kim, Son, and Ahn: A Case of Congenital Short Trachea Combined with Laryngeal Cleft

Case Report

Pediatric Allergy and Respiratory Disease

Pediatric Allergy and Respiratory Disease 2012; 22(3): 312-316.

Published online: 30 September 2012

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7581/pard.2012.22.3.312

A Case of Congenital Short Trachea Combined with Laryngeal Cleft

Chahee Kwun, MD¹, Ho Seok Lee, MD^1,², Jung Seok Yoo, MD^1,², Jihyun Kim, MD, PhD^1,², Young-Ik Son, MD, PhD³, Kangmo Ahn, MD, PhD^1,²

¹Department of Pediatrics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

²Environmental Health Center for Atopic Diseases, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

³Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Corresponding author (kmaped@skku.edu)

Received 24 July 2012 Revised 29 August 2012 Accepted 8 September 2012

Abstract

Congenital short trachea is a rare congenital anomaly in which the trachea is composed of reduced number of cartilage rings, which result in an abnormally high position of the carina and an abnormal course of the main bronchi. Hazards of congenital short trachea in infants and children include inadvertent bronchial intubation, because it causes bronchiostenosis, pulmonary interstitial emphysema, pneumomediastinum, pneumothorax, and ipsilateral atelectasis. Laryngeal cleft is a rare condition, as well. Symptoms range from mild stridor to massive aspiration and respiratory distress, depending on the severity of the cleft. Until now, a case with combination of these two rare congenital defects has not been reported. Herein, we report a 13 month-old boy who has congenital short trachea with laryngeal cleft.

Keywords: Congenital short trachea, Laryngeal cleft

Figures and Tables

Fig. 1

Type 2 laryngeal cleft in laryngoscopy (arrow).

Fig. 2

(A) Video fluoroscopic swallowing study and (B) esophagography show contrast is leaking between larynx and esophagus.

Fig. 3

Chest X-ray demonstrating carina at the level of T3 (arrow).

Fig. 4

(A, B) Trachea computed tomography image reveals carina at the level of T3 and endotracheal tube in the right bronchus (solid line arrow). (C) Trachea computed tomography 3D reconstruction image reveals diffuse narrowing of right main bronchus (dot line arrow). Lt, left; Rt, right.

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