Vocal Hoarseness and a Subglottic Mass: An Uncommon Diagnosis for a Common Complaint - PubMed (original) (raw)

Vocal Hoarseness and a Subglottic Mass: An Uncommon Diagnosis for a Common Complaint

Sassan Rafizadeh et al. J Investig Med High Impact Case Rep. 2015.

Abstract

We report a patient with tracheopathia osteoplastica (TPO), a rare or perhaps underrecognized disorder, detected in approximately 1 in every 2000 to 5000 patients who undergo bronchoscopy. TPO is marked by proliferation of bony and cartilaginous spurs leading to airway stenosis. Multiple submucosal cartilaginous and osseous nodules can develop in the respiratory tract and may involve the entire trachea and mainstem bronchi. Symptoms may range from a completely silent condition to life-threatening respiratory failure and diagnosis is made based on radiological and bronchoscopic findings. Although the etiology has not been established, TPO can be familial and is sometimes associated with chronic inflammation, such as seen with rheumatic diseases. This case highlights the need for understanding TPO so that it can be differentiated from potentially serious conditions such as necrotizing granulomatous diseases, invasive infections, and cancer.

Keywords: airway stenosis; hoarseness; osteocartilaginous nodules; trachea; tracheopathia osteoplastica.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.

Figure 1.

Chest radiograph is apparent for luminal narrowing of the trachea.

Figure 2.

Figure 2.

The chest CT shows a subglottic mass and anterior tracheal wall thickening with some calcifications, circumscribed by the yellow line.

Figure 3.

Figure 3.

Panel A shows the proximal trachea below the true vocal cords. Panel B shows the distal trachea just above the main carina. Multiple submucosal nodules are noted by the arrows.

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