A neurologic etiology for tracheomalacia?

Abstract

To date, major works on tracheomalacia have assumed a structural etiology and have proposed therapies as such. We describe a possible neurologic etiology for tracheomalacia in a child with clinically significant tracheomalacia that resolved in synchrony with each treatment of his recurring hydrocephalus. Endoscopy confirms remarkable expansion of tracheal diameter 7 days after decreasing intracranial pressure. The possibility of a neurologic etiology for tracheomalacia casts this condition in a new light with potential therapeutic implications.