Tracheal resection and reconstruction for malignant disease.

Abstract

Malignant tracheal neoplasms are rare diseases, mostly represented by squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC). Symptoms presentation is often misleading and diagnosis may be delayed for months or years, so clinical suspicion plays a fundamental role. Corner stones in the diagnostic pathway are represented by rigid endoscopy and computed tomography (CT) scan, necessary to correctly stage the patients and identify the optimal surgical candidate. When appropriate, surgical resection and reconstruction is still the best opportunity to achieve a long-term survival with a good quality of life, but this kind of surgery is always a very challenging procedure and a wide experience with an in-depth knowledge of every technical detail, from selection of patient, to choice of surgical approach to reconstruction techniques, are needed and recommended.