Tracheal replacement using the abdominal aorta. Comments on a case report

Tracheal replacement is an uncommon option because of the very limited number of indications and the large number of possibilities for resection anastomosis. There may nevertheless be situations were extensive resection leaves only one solution, tracheal replacement. To date, no prosthesis has provided long-term satisfaction. For tracheal replacement, the prosthesis must provide a large caliber airway which does not collapse during expiration and which enables the development of a ciliary lining, in addition to tolerance without rejection. Recent experimental work, then several clinical cases, would suggest that the abdominal aorta can be successfully transformed into a neotrachea. A temporary endoprosthesis is however necessary to prevent collapse until new tracheal rings develop. Experimental and early clinical work has provided promising results but with problems concerning the endoprosthesis. In our patient, we used the abdominal aorta as a tracheal substitute but replaced the endoprosthesis with an exoprosthesis leaving the aortic lumen free. The result was also encouraging, but the absence of integration of the aortic tissue did not confirm the observations reported by others. Other hypotheses concerning the regeneration of the neotrachea should be put forward.