Clinical manifestation and management of primary malignant tumors of the cervical trachea

To explore clinical manifestation and therapies of primary malignant tumors of the cervical trachea, we retrospectively reviewed 31 patients with primary cervical tracheal malignant tumors diagnosed in the last 15 years by means of clinical manifestation, fiberoptic endoscopy, CT scanning and histopathological examinations. All of them were hospitalized and treated at the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University. Of them, 4 underwent emergent tracheotomy under local anesthesia, 9 were inserted with a laryngeal mask airway, 18 underwent tumorectomy under general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation, and of them 11 had tracheotomy during surgery. Of those 31 patients, tracheal malignant tumors in 9 cases were resected via laryngeal and retrograde tracheal incisions under endoscope; the tumors in 13 cases were excised via sleeve trachea resection and end-to-end anastomosis; those in 8 were removed by tracheofissure, and the tumor in 1 case was not excised surgically. Among the 30 resected patients, 20 patients received both radiotherapy and chemotherapy; 6 received radiotherapy only, and 4 did not receive any adjuvant therapies. During follow-up between 2 and 11 years, among 31 patients, there was no recurrence in 24 cases. Among the 7 deceased patients, 1 displayed multiple tracheal chondrosarcoma, 4 displayed adenoid cystic carcinoma, and 2 displayed squamous cell carcinoma. Emergency lower tracheotomy is necessary only when patients with tracheal, malignant tumors are in a critical condition. Sleeve trachea resection is the optimal therapy for tracheal malignant tumors. However, in the treatment of tracheal malignant tumors adjacent to the larynx or the involved trachea is over 6 cm in length, other surgeries shall be performed. Postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy can achieve the same therapeutic effect as sleeve trachea resection.