Ultrafast CT of laryngeal and tracheobronchial obstruction in symptomatic postoperative infants with esophageal atresia and tracheoesophageal fistula

Abstract

We evaluated the role of ultrafast CT in the diagnosis and follow-up of nine consecutive, symptomatic infants with suspected laryngeal and tracheobronchial obstruction after surgery for esophageal atresia. With 80% or more area collapse as a criterion for the diagnosis of laryngomalacia and 50% or more for tracheomalacia, six patients had tracheomalacia, one had laryngomalacia, and two had both. Tracheomalacia was focal in four patients and diffuse, involving the thoracic trachea, in the other four. Associated bronchomalacia was present in two patients. The site and degree of abnormality were verified by endoscopy in five of nine patients. The degree of tracheal collapse did not always correlate with the size of the esophageal pouch or with the site of the tracheo-esophageal fistula. These findings support the concept that the larynx and/or tracheal walls are often abnormal in symptomatic infants with esophageal atresia, tracheoesophageal fistula, and airway obstruction. Ultrafast CT was a reliable technique for detecting and assessing the site, extent, severity, and dynamics of airway collapse in five of seven symptomatic infants with congenital tracheoesophageal anomalies when the imaging findings were compared with endoscopic findings and previously published normal standards.