Surgical reconstruction for congenital tracheal malformation and pulmonary artery sling

Congenital tracheal malformations are less common than congenital cardiac diseases and surgical repair of these anomalies is complex. We sought to examine the surgical treatment and outcomes in cases of tracheal anomalies presenting with or without associated congenital malformations.

We retrospectively reviewed the demographic, clinical, and imaging data of 49 children who underwent surgery for congenital tracheal malformations between August 2013 and September 2017. Data were collected from the hospital records.

In all, 49 patients (male, 30; female, 19) underwent surgeries at our center. The children were of ages between 3 and 36 months (average: 9.7 months). Associated congenital lesions included sling in31/49 (63%), vascularring: in 2/49; ventriculoseptaldefectin5/49; Fallot’s tetraology in 2/49 (4.1%), and imperforate anus in 3/49 (6.1%). The outcomes of surgery were excellent in 42(85.7%) cases, good in 3 cases, while mortality occurred in 4(8.1%) cases. All cases of tracheal stenosis without any change in tracheobronchial arborization, 10/12 cases of bridge carina, and all cases of tripod carina were reconstructed using the slide tracheoplasty technique. Antetracheal translocation was performed for correction of associated pulmonary sling, without reimplantation of the pulmonary artery.

Reconstructive surgery is a feasible treatment option for congenital tracheal malformations. Slide tracheoplasty can be safely applied in all cases for the correction of tracheal stenosis. Segment resection was not required for any portion of the trachea. Pulmonary artery translocation is safe and effective for patients with pulmonary artery sling, rather than reimplantation. Mortality was associated with severe cardiac complications.