1993 Volume 30 Issue 11 Pages 974-977
A 71-year-old male had suffered from cough with purulent sputum. He was admitted to our hospital because of worsening of his symptoms. The chest X-ray film showed diffuse nodular shadows and emphysematous changes in both lung fields. Transbronchial lung biopsy demonstrated findings compatible with diffuse panbronchiolitis (DPB). Bronchoscopy showed the tracheal lumen was sagittaly narrowed and membranous portion was protruded into the lumen. The trachea completely collapsed when coughing. His disease was diagnosed as saber-sheath type tracheomalacia (Johnson III). Tracheomalacia was reported to be observed in 0.9% of patients examined by bronchoscopy. The dominant type of tracheomalacia is crescent type, and saber-sheath type is rare. Chronic airway inflammation with DPB might have exacerbated the tracheomalacia in this case.
