[Primary carcinoma of the trachea (author's transl)]

Dyspnea was the only significant clinical symptom in a patient suffering from a primary tracheal tumor. Tracheography and tracheal tomography revealed a marked stenosis in the medium third of this organ. The endoscopic biopsy identified a squamous carcinoma. Medical treatment and radiation gave only temporary tumor control. The uncommoness of primary tracheal neoplasms, one per each 180 cases of lung tumor, is stressed. The diagnosis is usually made in advanced stages due to the lack of initial symptoms and because these patients are frequently catalogued as asthmatics or bronchitics. Performance of flow-volume loops using a mixture of helium and oxygen increases the diagnostic percentages, since it is possible to separate those cases with diffuse airway obstruction.