Complete Tracheal Rings

What are complete tracheal rings?

A normal trachea (windpipe) has many rings made of cartilage (a strong and flexible tissue). These rings are C-shaped and support the trachea but also allow it to move and flex when your child breathes.

Complete tracheal rings are a birth defect in these rings that causes them to be O-shaped instead of C-shaped. This can result in airway stenosis — an abnormal narrowing of your child’s windpipe. The number of rings in the trachea varies from 16 to 20. This defect in the cartilage can affect one or many of those rings.

What are the symptoms of complete tracheal rings?

Some children with complete tracheal rings may show mild respiratory issues at first, while others may be in serious respiratory distress. Symptoms of a narrowed airway (stenosis) caused by complete tracheal rings include:

noisy breathing (stridor)
听起来很呼吸
recurring pneumonias
wheezing
cyanosis(blue spells)
apnea (pauses in breathing)
胸闷

是什么原因导致完全气管环？

完全气管环是出生时存在的一种罕见疾病。它通常与心脏或肺部其他异常有关。它也可能与Down syndromeand Pfeiffer syndrome.

Tracheal rings can also be associated with a condition in which the pulmonary artery (the artery carrying blood from the right ventricle of the heart to the lungs) wraps around the trachea and causes a narrowing of the opening.

How we care for complete tracheal rings

Although mild cases of complete tracheal rings may not require surgery, more severe cases can seriously interfere with your child’s breathing and require immediate treatment. TheCenter for Airway Disordersat Boston Children's Hospital is specifically designed to care for children with this rare condition. Our team provides the most advanced testing andtreatmentavailable.

诊断和治疗

How are complete tracheal rings diagnosed?

Your child’s doctor will need to look at images of the trachea in order to make a diagnosis of tracheal rings. The visualization test that is used is calledbronchoscopy. During this procedure, your child will receive general anesthesia so that the trachea can be examined using a tube called a bronchoscope. The doctor will view the airway and determine whether or not your child has complete tracheal rings.

这是一个非常安全的过程，您的孩子将很快康复。测试完成后，我们的专家团队将开会以审查并讨论他们对您孩子状况的了解。然后，我们将与您和您的家人会面，讨论结果并概述最佳治疗选择。

What are the treatment options for complete tracheal rings?

Complete tracheal rings can vary in severity. Milder forms can sometimes be monitored with close observation. Children with less severe symptoms may not require surgery.

但是，在许多情况下，需要手术来治疗该疾病。我们的医生是手术干预措施的专家，其中包括：

Segmental Tracheal Resection: During this procedure, surgeons remove the defective tracheal segment and then repair the airway by suturing (attaching) the remaining ends back together. This surgery is an option if your child has a few complete tracheal rings arranged in a short segment.
Slide tracheoplasty: Our surgeons are experts in this complex procedure to make the airway larger. During this surgery, the narrowed trachea is divided across the middle of stenosis (the area where the airway is narrowed). A portion of the lower and upper tracheal segments are cut and then attached, resulting in an airway that is wider and shorter than before.

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