The clinical feasibility of flexible bronchoscopy interventional therapy in patients with central airway stenosis and respiratory failure caused by malignancy

Figures & data

Table 1 The clinical data, stenosis site, preoperative disease, and complications of 12 patients

S. no	Gender	Age	Protopathy	Types of RF	Stenosis site	Stenosis type	Pre-op SD	Post-op SD	Basic disease	Complications	ITM	Procedure time (minutes)
1	Male	61	EC	Type I	Trachea	MT	III	I	EC	Tracheal IA	AS	80
2	Male	61	EC	Type I	Trachea	MT	III	I	EC	PI	HFE + AS	70
3	Female	55	SqCC	Type I	Trachea	IT	III	I	COPD	PI	HFE	60
4	Male	70	EC	Type I	Left MB	MT	III	I	EC	PI	HFE + AS	55
5	Female	55	ACC	Type I	Trachea, and left and right MB	IT	III	I	COPD	PI	Frozen + HFE	90
6	Male	64	EC	Type I	Left MB	MT	III	I	EC	Bronchial IA	BD + APC + AS	86
7	Male	45	EC	Type I	Trachea	MT	III	I	EC	PI	HFE + AS	64
8	Female	58	EC	Type I	Trachea	MT	III	I	EC	PI	HFE + AS	74
9	Female	55	ACC	Type II	Trachea and left MB	IT	III	I	Viral hepatitis and hypertension	PI	Forceps + BD	90
10	Male	44	EC	Type I	Trachea	MT	III	I	EC	PI	HFE + AS	72
11	Female	76	EC	Type I	Trachea	MT	III	I	EC	Tracheal IA	APC + HFE	58
12	Female	55	SqCC	Type I	Right MB and intermediate bronchus	IT	III	I	Rectal cancer and hypertension	PI	BD + APC + AS	48

Abbreviations: ACC, adenoid cystic carcinoma; APC, argon plasma coagulation; AS, airway stent; BD, balloon dilatation; EC, esophageal cancer; HFE, high frequency electrocautery; IA, invasive aspergillosis; IT, intraluminal type; ITM, interventional therapeutic methods; MB, main bronchus; MT, mixed type; PI, pulmonary infection; Post-op, postoperative; Pre-op, preoperative; RF, respiratory failure; SD, stenosis degree; SqCC, squamous cell carcinoma.

Figure 1 Three-dimensional imaging of the airway showing significant stenosis in the middle of the trachea and atelectasis in the lower left part of the lung.

Figure 2 Flexible bronchoscopy showed obstructive stenosis of the trachea.

Table 2 Dyspnea index and oxygenation index changes before and after intervention

Time	Dyspnea index	Oxygenation index
Preoperative	3.9±0.3	201.6±22.1
Postoperative	2.2±0.1	338.6±53.8
t-value	13.40	8.13
P-value	<0.01	<0.01

Notes: The dyspnea index was evaluated according to the standard of the American Thoracic Society. The oxygenation index is ratio of partial pressure of oxygen to fraction of inspiration O₂ (PaO₂/FiO₂).

Table 3 The survival time of the 12 patients

S. no	Survival time (days)
1	305
2	396
3	576
4	123
5	476
6	232
7	485
8	363
9	693
10	788
11	178
12	126