Chinanews.com, Guangzhou, December 12 (Cai Minjie, Zhang Chengbin) 30-year-old Guangdong patient Sister Shi (pseudonym) has a long-term cough, shortness of breath, and dyspnea, and her symptoms have worsened in the past month, and she cannot take care of herself. Wu Jian, director of the second geriatric respiratory department of Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, said on the 58th that when there are symptoms such as recurrent or refractory cough, hemoptysis, and progressive dyspnea, it is necessary to be vigilant, and it is recommended to go to the hospital for medical examination in time to check whether there is a hidden "bomb" in the trachea.
Sister Shi has sought medical treatment everywhere for 8 years due to "cough, shortness of breath, and difficulty breathing", and has been misdiagnosed as bronchial asthma for a long time. In the past month, Sister Shi's breathing difficulties have worsened, she can't lie flat, and even a mouthful of sputum blockage can cause hypoxia and suffocation. In December, Sister Shi was admitted to the Second Department of Geriatric Respiratory Medicine of Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, where she first removed and ablated the endotracheal tumor through a tracheoscopy, and the pathological test of the tumor specimen was found to be tracheal mucinous epidermoid carcinoma.
According to Wu Jian, tracheal mucoepidermoid carcinoma is a rare salivary gland malignant tumor in the lungs, which tends to occur in children and young adults, with an average age of about 30 to 50 years old, accounting for 0.1% to 0.2% of primary lung tumors. At present, endoscopy, surgery, chemoradiotherapy and immunotherapy are mainly used to treat tracheal tumors.
"The pathology shows that Sister Shi's endotracheal tumor is malignant in nature, and only 90% of the tumor is removed by tracheoscopic intervention, and if the remaining tumor base is not further treated, it will cause tumor recurrence or metastasis, requiring surgical resection or local radiotherapy." Wu Jian said that the operation was divided into two parts, first through the use of tracheoscopic interventional technology, quickly removed most of the tumors, quickly relieved the patient's breathing difficulties and out of life-threatening danger, and then with the full cooperation of the team of thoracic surgery, geriatric respiratory department, otolaryngology department and other departments, joined hands to accurately remove the endotracheal tumor, and Sister Shi was cured.
Wu Jian said that tracheal tumors have two categories: benign tumors and malignant tumors. The vast majority (90%) of tracheal tumors in childhood are benign, and most are malignant in adults. Primary malignant tracheal tumors are rare, accounting for about 0.5% to 1% of all malignancies, with an annual incidence of 0.1 per 10,<>.
In terms of clinical manifestations, the clinical symptoms of tracheal tumors vary according to the size and nature of the tumor. Common early symptoms are irritating cough, little or no sputum, sometimes blood-streaked, and advanced cases of tracheal malignancy may present with hoarseness, dysphagia, tracheoesophageal fistula, mediastinal organ tissue compression, cervical lymph node metastasis, and purulent lung infection.
"When the tumor grows and gradually blocks more than 50% of the tracheal lumen, shortness of breath, dyspnea, stridor, etc., which are often misdiagnosed as bronchial asthma and delay treatment, and the symptoms are easily confused with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (emphysema) and pneumonia." Wu Jian said that when there is recurrent or refractory cough, hemoptysis, progressive dyspnea, wheezing, shortness of breath, and chest tightness, it is necessary to be vigilant. In addition to what can be lung cancer, it can also be a tracheal tumor. She advises patients with the above symptoms to go to the hospital for medical examination in time, find the hidden "bomb" of the trachea, and receive professional treatment as soon as possible.
In recent years, the use of diagnostic methods, including CT and flexible bronchoscopy, has increased, allowing patients to be diagnosed earlier. Wu Jian said that tracheoscopy, as the "gold standard" for diagnosing primary tracheal tumors, can more accurately and directly assess the length of the tumor and the uninvolved trachea, and can also directly perform tissue biopsy to obtain pathological diagnosis. (ENDS)