Rapid progression of tracheal stenosis associated with tracheopathia osteo-chondroplastica

Tracheopathia osteochondroplastica (TPO) is a rare, but increasingly recognised condition in which there is accumulation of calcium phosphate with benign submucous proliferation of cartilage and bone beneath the tracheal mucosa, often with squamous metaplasia of the mucosal columnar epithelium. This condition is usually asymptomatic, but may be slowly progressive, causing haemoptysis, dry cough and dyspnoea. We report a case of TPO in which there was rapid progression of tracheal stenosis such that the size of endotracheal tube that the upper airway would accept changed from 8.00 mm to 3.0 mm during a six-week period. This extreme reduction in airway calibre had not been detected on spirometry nine days prior to his final admission. This is the first report of such rapid progression of tracheal stenosis associated with TPO.