Percutaneous Trans-Tracheal Endoscopic Approach: A Novel Technique for the Excision of Benign Lesions of Thoracic Trachea

Tracheal Glomus Tumor: A Case Report with CT Imaging Features

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Glomus tumors are rare benign tumors. The majority of them affect the skin the most and are rarer in the trachea, where the glomus bodies may not be present. Only scarce reports of tracheal glomus tumors have been reported solely with case reports of relevant articles.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A 53-year-old man, with a free previous medial history, presented to our hospital with tracheal mass which was incidentally found. He did not complain of any specific symptoms associated with the tracheal tumor. The contrast-enhanced chest computed tomography (CT) revealed an avid enhancing nodular lesion, which is similar to blood vessels, in the trachea, 3 cm above the carina level without definite airway obstruction.

RESULTS

Successful tracheal resection and end-to-end anastomosis were performed on the patients; therefore, the final post-operative pathologic findings revealed a benign tracheal glomus tumor. The follow-up CT scan four months after operation showed complete removal of the tumor.

CONCLUSION

Tracheal glomus tumors, even rare entities, could be considered as a differential diagnosis if a highly enhancing mass appears on CT images.

Minimally invasive approach for retrieval of retropharyngeal foreign body

Ingested fish bone at times can migrate extraluminally into the surrounding soft tissue, leading to complications. Conventionally, these migrated fish bones are retrieved by open procedures, which could add to the morbidity. We successfully retrieved one such foreign body by a minimally invasive transcervical approach in a 64-year-old female patient. The method offered an easy identification of the foreign body with minimal soft-tissue dissection, which ultimately aided in the early post-operative recovery. This is the first report of a minimally invasive approach to explore the retropharyngeal space, and we propose the technique even for sampling retropharyngeal lymph node.