2018 Volume 111 Issue 10 Pages 713-718
We encountered a case of tracheobronchial chondritis that developed after surgical treatment for tongue cancer and neck abscess.
The patient was a 55-year-old man with tongue cancer (T3N0M0, stage III), who was treated by right hemiglossectomy, tissue flap reconstruction, right neck dissection and tracheostomy. Due to postoperative dysphagia, laryngeal elevation surgery was performed. Then, 82 days after the operation for tongue cancer, the patient developed a right neck abscess. The abscess resolved with incision and drainage and antibiotic administration, however, intermittent fever persisted. A neck and chest computed tomography showed tracheobronchial wall thickening. We concluded that the patient probably had autoimmune tracheobronchial chondritis. The chondritis improved with prednisolone administration.
A few similar cases have been reported in the literature. Therefore, we assume that tracheotomy and neck abscess could predispose to the development of autoimmune tracheobronchial chondritis. However, presence of other possiple autoimmune disorder in the patients must be excluded.
