Clinical Presentation
A morbidly obese 51-year-old woman, who is a cigarette smoker, with shortness of breath, stridor, and cough.
Imaging Findings
(A, B) Contrast-enhanced computed tomography of the chest: Expiratory images at two different levels reveal significant collapse of the trachea and airways (arrows). Also note the mosaic pattern of attenuation in the lung parenchyma.
Differential Diagnosis
• Tracheobronchomalacia (TBM): Excessive airway collapsibility secondary to weakness of the airway wall is known as TBM.
• Tracheobronchial stenosis: A fundamental difference between tracheobronchial stenosis and several different pathologic conditions (amyloidosis, sarcoidosis, relapsing polychondritis) is the fixed nature of the airway narrowing.
Stay updated, free articles. Join our Telegram channel
Full access? Get Clinical Tree
