Canine tracheal collapse

Abstract

Tracheal collapse occurs most commonly in middle‐aged, small breed dogs. Clinical signs are usually proportional to the degree of collapse, ranging from mild airway irritation and paroxysmal coughing to respiratory distress and dyspnoea. Diagnosis is made by documenting dynamic airway collapse with radiographs, bronchoscopy or fluoroscopy. Most dogs respond well to medical management and treatment of any concurrent comorbidities. Surgical intervention may need to be considered in dogs that do not respond or have respiratory compromise. A variety of surgical techniques have been reported although extraluminal ring prostheses or intraluminal stenting are the most commonly used. Both techniques have numerous potential complications and require specialised training and experience but are associated with good short‐ and long‐term outcomes.

Tracheobronchoscopic, cytological and microbiological results of tracheal and bronchial collapse in dogs

“…Clinical features of airway collapse are not predictive due to the severity of the collapse (8,15). It has been noted that respiratory distress, exercise intolerance, and chronic coughing are documented in dogs with airway collapse (1, 2, 4).…”

“…It has been noted that respiratory distress, exercise intolerance, and chronic coughing are documented in dogs with airway collapse (1, 2, 4). Although there is no gold standard for clinical diagnosis of lower respiratory system disease (8,12), endoscopic examinations of the respiratory tract have the advantage of clarifying the exact diagnosis in these cases (2,8,15). Historical, physical, hematological, radiographic and tracheobronchoscopic findings known to be compatible with respiratory system disease are often nonspecific (1,4,8,10,12).…”

“…Thoracic radiography is not sensitive in detecting lesions (1,8,10). Abnormalities detected radiographically are rarely specific for a single disease process (6,15). Thus, if tracheal collapse is suspected in a case, fluoroscopic examination should be made to grade the disease (1, 8, 10).…”

“…Tracheal collapse is a common cause of coughing in dogs, and it is seen in the cervical and/ or intrathoracic portion of the trachea (4,7,8,10,15). Tracheal collapse and tracheomalacia are usually associated with congenital disease (8,16), extrinsic compression or chronic inflammation, and they lead to airway weakness and inflammatory airway disease (4,15,16).…”

“…These pathologies are graded by tracheobronchoscopic examination (1,2,7,8,11,14), and intraluminal appearances are scored to demonstrate the severity of the disease (2,4,11,14,15). Cytological evaluation of the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid or tracheal brush cytology is made 1) This study was performed with support from a scientific research project from Uludag University (Project no: BUAP(V)-2014/1).…”