Tumors of the Trachea

Abstract

The development of the bronchoscope has aided much in the early and accurate diagnosis of tumors of the trachea. Prior to its common use, a tumor of the trachea usually was an incidental finding at necropsy, except for the occasional tumor found by indirect laryngoscopy. Reports of tracheal tumors have become progressively more frequent with improved methods in laryngoscopy and bronchoscopy and with more complete postmortem studies.

In 1929, D'Aunoy and Zoeller¹ presented an exhaustive survey in a report of 351 cases of tumors of the trachea. Culp² in a review of all the reported cases over a seven year period from 1929 to June, 1936, found eighty-two new cases of primary tumors, fifty-six of this number being described as carcinomas. Of the total 443 primary tumors reported, 147 or 34 per cent were carcinomas.

Tumors of the trachea usually are classified according to the pathological picture but some prefer to classify them according to their relationship to the tracheal wall, namely, endotracheal, murotracheal, and peritracheal. They may be obstructive or nonobstructive, and may be located in the cervical trachea or in the intrathoracic trachea. The lumen of the trachea is more than ample to supply the required air, for its area of cross-section is more than twice that of the widely open glottis. Therefore, very small growths may not give signs of tracheal obstruction.

Endotracheal tumors obstruct the lumen of the trachea by their bulk, and murotracheal and peritracheal growths obstruct the lumen by crowding the wall inward. Jackson³. . .