Imaging
Those who care for patients with pulmonary, critical care or sleep disorders rely heavily on chest radiology and pathology to determine diagnoses. The Southwest Journal of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep publishes case-based articles with characteristic chest imaging and related pathology.
The editor of this section will oversee and coordinate the publication of a core of the most important chest imaging topics. In doing so, they encourage the submission of unsolicited manuscripts. It cannot be overemphasized that both radiologic and pathologic images must be of excellent quality. As a rule, 600 DPI is sufficient for radiographic and pathologic images. Taking pictures of plain chest radiographs and CT scans with a digital camera is strongly discouraged. The figures should be cited in the text and numbered consecutively. The stain used for pathology specimens and magnification should be mentioned in the figure legend. Those who care for patients with pulmonary, critical care or sleep disorders rely heavily on chest radiology and pathology to determine diagnoses. The Southwest Journal of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep publishes case-based articles with characteristic chest imaging and related pathology. The editor of this section will oversee and coordinate the publication of a core of the most important chest imaging topics. In doing so, they encourage the submission of unsolicited manuscripts. It cannot be overemphasized that both radiologic and pathologic images must be of excellent quality. As a rule, 600 DPI is sufficient for radiographic and pathologic images. Taking pictures of plain chest radiographs and CT scans with a digital camera is strongly discouraged. The figures should be cited in the text and numbered consecutively. The stain used for pathology specimens and magnification should be mentioned in the figure legend.
Medical Image of the Week: Tracheal Stenosis
Figure 1. Pulmonary function tests showing a flat inspiratory loop.
Figure 2. When viewed from vocal cords, tracheal stenosis seen distally (arrow).
Figure 3. Tracheal stenosis seen on bronchoscopy (arrow).
Figure 4. Area of tracheal stenosis after balloon dilation.
A 43-year-old woman was seen in clinic for dyspnea on exertion that began several months ago. Prior workup included a computed tomography of the chest with mild narrowing noted in the upper trachea. Pulmonary function tests (Figure 1) showed a flat inspiratory loop with a normal expiratory loop, which suggests a variable extrathoracic obstruction. On bronchoscopy, a tracheal stenosis was seen just past the vocal cords (Figure 2, Figure 3). Balloon dilation (Figure 4) of the stenosis returned the area to normal caliber.
Wendy Hsu, MD and James Knepler, MD
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ
Reference as: Hsu W, Knepler J. Medical image of the week: tracheal stenosis. Southwest J Pulm Crit Care. 2013:7(1):53-4. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13175/swjpcc099-13 PDF