Improvement of Mucociliary Transport System Four Years After Metal Stent Insertion in Trachea

Abstract

We used aerosol inhalation cine-scintigraphy to evaluate the mucociliary transport system (MCT) in a patient who had undergone metal stent insertion for tracheal stenosis. A 43-year-old woman with marked stenosis of the upper trachea by squamous cell carcinoma was treated by insertion of a metal stent under local anesthesia as an emergency procedure, and thereafter with chemoradiotherapy resulting in a complete remission. On bronchoscopic examination 1 month after stenting, the stent was minimally covered with the inflamed epithelium. On the first aerosol inhalation cine-scintigraphy at 3 months after the stenting, the radioisotope bolus pattern represented complete stasis except on coughing. However, 4 years after the stenting, the stent was almost completely covered with the epithelium, and the epithelial inflammation had disappeared on bronchoscopic examination. On aerosol inhalation cine-scintigraphy, slower and less smooth movement than normal was observed from the main bronchi to the trachea, and the MCT appeared to have improved over the long period after the stenting.