From March 1981 to June 1993, 5 cases of benign tracheobronchial neoplasms were treated with endoscopic Nd-YAG Laser therapy. The patients ranged in age from 17 to 60 years with an average of 36.7 years old and included 3 males and 2 females. Histologic type consisted of two leiomyomas, one papilloma, one schwannoma, and one granular cell tumor. Papilloma was located in the trachea. Leiomyomas were located in the left main stem bronchus and the right B3b. Schwannoma was located in the right upper bronchus. Granular cell tumor was located in the right lower bronchus. Papilloma was nodular type tumor and other tumors were polypoid type tumors.
Bronchofiberscopic polypectomy was performed before irradiation in the polypoid type tumors. We used power setting ranging from 30 to 40 W with pulse duration of 1s. Total joules ranged from 1222 to 5502 J (mean joules 2955. 6J).
In all cases, we treated the tumors safely by endoscopic surgery and the tumors were disappeared completely. There were no recurrence during the follow up intervals from 6 months to 77 months with an average of 30.8 months after the first endoscopic Nd: YAG Laser surgery. In polypoid type tumors, polypectomy was useful for the reduction of treatment time and joules. Endoscopic Nd: YAG Laser therapys considered to be a modality of curative treatment for the benign tracheobronchial neoplasms growing exclusively endoluminally or intraluminally within cartilageneous rings.
