Abstract
From 1985 to 1988, 12 patients with tracheal defect due to various reasons had undergone the implantation of a specially-designed hydroxyapatite block in their anterior neck for the reconstruction of trachea. Questionnaire survey with the use of calling was performed to know the long-term outcome of this surgical treatment and some cases underwent the scrutinization of their airway with the use of CT imaging. Of the twelve patients, one patient died of intercurrent disease 4 months after the operation. Although two cases spontaneously extruded the hydroxyapatite block after the implantation, nine cases had suffered from no dyspnea since that reconstruction of trachea with the use of hydroxyapatite block. In 4 cases of the 9 their airway was confirmed to be tightly holded by the implanted block. The implantation of hydroxypapatite has been reported to be a safe and established technique in other fields. However, since the implanted hydroxyapatite block may be extruded spontaneously, the strict follow-up is definitely required for the implanted patients.
