Hua Qingwang, Lin Zhiyong, Hu Xingti, Zhao Qifeng
Children's Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Children's Heart Center, the Second Affiliated Hospital & Yuying Children's Hospital, Institute of Cardiovascular Development and Translational Medicine, Wenzhou Medical University.
Int Heart J. 2017 Aug 3;58(4):629-632. doi: 10.1536/ihj.16-347. Epub 2017 Jul 10.
Congenital abnormalities of the aortic arch include interrupted aortic arch (IAA), coarctation of the aorta (CoA), and double aortic arch (DAA). Aortic arch repair is difficult and postoperative complications are common. However, postoperative tracheobronchial stenosis with respiratory insufficiency is an uncommon complication and is usually caused by increased aortic anastomotic tension. We report here a case of tracheal compression by a mediastinal hematoma following IAA surgery. The patient underwent a repeat operation to remove the hematoma and was successfully weaned off the ventilator.In cases of tracheobronchial stenosis after aortic arch surgery, airway compression by increased aortic anastomotic tension is usually the first diagnosis considered by clinicians. Other causes, such as mediastinal hematomas, are often ignored. However, the severity of symptoms with mediastinal hematomas makes this an important entity.
