Progressive Stenosis of Both Main Bronchi Associated With Recurrent Infections of a Carinal Pouch

A 55-year-old woman was referred to our department with a bilateral stenosis of both main bronchi starting at the level of the carina and a blind-ended pouch originating from the carina. Differential diagnosis of diffuse narrowing of the intrathoracic central airways was excluded during the diagnostic workup. Recurrent infection of the blind-ended pouch remained a possible explanation of this unusual type of stenosis. Carinal resection and reconstruction by end-to-end anastomosis of the trachea to the right main bronchus and reimplantation of the left main bronchus to the intermediate bronchus with intraoperative extracorporeal membrane oxygen support resulted in an excellent long-term outcome.