[Chronic atrophic polychondritis. A case report]

Chronic atrophic polychondritis is a rare systemic disease characterized by recurring inflammation of cartilage of the ear, nose, larynx and of the tracheobronchial tree. Nowadays, it is considered to be an autoimmune disease. The case of a 25-year-old female patient hospitalized in our department for treatment of a dyspnea is herein presented. ORL laryngoscopic examination revealed a small sized larynx with a pronounced narrowing of its lumen and very "floppy" cartilage. Bronchoscopic findings were a circumferential stenosis along the entire trachea and the right major bronchi. Results from biopsies performed on the trachea and thyroid cartilage were in favor of chronic atrophic polychondritis. The course of the disease was characterized by an aggravation of the dyspnea with episodes of asphyxia resulting in a tracheotomy. The tracheotomy has not been closed to this day, due to the underlined disease of the patient.

[Epithelioid malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor. A case report]

Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNST) are exceptional and painful. The typical localization along a peripheral nerve is not always present. Prognosis is very poor. Diagnosis is particularly difficult because of the variable pathological presentation and unpredictable differentiation. We report an exceptional case of epithelioid differentiation in a 43-Year-old patient who complained of right thoracic pain for one and a half Years. Physical examination revealed weight loss and a paravertebral mass under the scapula. The chest x-ray showed a suprahilar opacity suggestive of parietal involvement and lysis of the sixth rib. Surgical biopsy of the parietal mass led to the diagnosis of epithelioid MPNST.

[Cystic adenoid carcinoma of the trachea]

Cystic adenoid carcinoma (CAC) of the trachea, also called cylindroma, is a rare malignant tumor accounting for 1 per thousand of all respiratory tract cancers. We report three cases of cylindroma in patients hospitalized for inspiratory dyspnea due to a tracheal tumor. Bronchoscopy using a rigid tube revealed a smooth tumor of the trachea. Pathology analysis of the biopsy specimen diagnosed CAC. The three patients underwent resection with end-to-end anastomosis. Adjuvant radiotherapy was given in one patient. The short-term outcome was good but one patient developed local recurrence and lung metastasis at six years.