Tracheal tumors review -: A clinical case of adenoid cystic carcinoma

Tracheal tumours are rare, accounting for only about 0.3% of all bodily tumours. Their incidence is less than 0.2 per 100 000 inhabitants and 180 times less frequent than lung cancer. The reason for their rarity is not so clear. It is possible that turbulent airflow in the trachea protects its mucosa from inhaled carcinogen deposits. The authors report a case of adenoid cystic carcinoma in a 23 year-old woman, non-smoker, with acute clinical inspiratory stridor, where Nd-Yag laser use was extremely important to tracheal permeability as the tumor occupied over 80% of the tracheal lumen and could have led to imminent patient asphyxia.