Tracheal bronchus

Abstract

Abnormalities of the major airways are uncommon congenital conditions which occur in approximately 2% of the population. A tracheal bronchus arises from the trachea or mainstem bronchus and can aerate the entire upper lobe or a segment. Congenital tracheobronchial abnormalities may be asymptomatic and discovered as incidental findings or may present with stridor, recurrent pneumonia or atelectasis. We present the rare case of a 1 year old baby with a tracheal bronchus associated with recurrent pneumonia of the right upper lobe. In the daily clinical routine delayed diagnosis is quite frequent because anatomical variants of the airways are not routinely included in the differential diagnosis of persistent or recurrent pulmonary infections. The ability to diagnose and characterize these developmental abnormalities of the bronchial tree non-invasively has been enhanced by use of the multidetector computerized tomography (MDCT) and 3D airway reconstructions.