Tracheal papilloma with exceptionally longer interval of recurrence

A case of recurrent respiratory papilloma of the trachea was reviewed in accordance with other literature. A 66-year-old man with the chief complaint of haemoptysis was referred to our department for meticulous checkup. According to his past medical history of laser ablation for laryngeal and tracheal papilloma, recurrence of the papilloma was first suspected and confirmed by bronchoscopic biopsy. The recurrent papilloma, of about 5 mm in diameter, was located at the same endotracheal lesion, left side of the middle trachea, where the former first and second tracheal papillomas had been detected and treated with Nd-YAG laser. Under general anaesthesia with endotracheal intubation, the patient underwent bronchoscopic resection of the recurrent papilloma with KTP laser. The bronchoscopic resection was uneventful, as was the postoperative course. In this report, the clinical manifestations of and therapeutic approach for tracheal papilloma are reviewed.