Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • COVID-19
    • Articles & podcasts
    • Blog posts
    • Collection
    • News
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • Classified ads
  • Authors
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
  • CMA Members
    • Overview for members
    • Earn CPD Credits
    • Print copies of CMAJ
    • Career Ad Discount
  • Subscribers
    • General information
    • View prices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN

User menu

Search

  • Advanced search
CMAJ
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN
CMAJ

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • COVID-19
    • Articles & podcasts
    • Blog posts
    • Collection
    • News
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • Classified ads
  • Authors
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
  • CMA Members
    • Overview for members
    • Earn CPD Credits
    • Print copies of CMAJ
    • Career Ad Discount
  • Subscribers
    • General information
    • View prices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
  • Visit CMAJ on Facebook
  • Follow CMAJ on Twitter
  • Follow CMAJ on Pinterest
  • Follow CMAJ on Youtube
  • Follow CMAJ on Instagram
Clinical images

Tracheal bronchus

Fu-Chieh Shih, Wei-Jing Lee and Hung-Jung Lin
CMAJ March 31, 2009 180 (7) 783; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.080280
Fu-Chieh Shih
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Wei-Jing Lee
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Hung-Jung Lin
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Tables
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

A previously healthy 20-year-old man presented with a 4-day history of intractable cough and fever. A chest radiograph showed a right tracheal bronchus and a right paratracheal mass with the trachea shifted to the left (Figure 1). A contrast-enhanced computed tomography scan of the chest showed a right aortic arch and compression of the trachea (Figure 2). A 3-dimensional reconstruction of a computed tomography scan of the chest in coronal view was created to make the tracheal bronchus more visible (Figure 3). The patient's respiratory symptoms resolved after a course of oral antibiotic therapy.

Figure1
  • Download figure
  • Open in new tab
  • Download powerpoint

Figure 1: Chest radiograph of a 20-year-old man showing a right tracheal bronchus (arrow) and paratracheal mass with the trachea shifted to the left.

Figure2
  • Download figure
  • Open in new tab
  • Download powerpoint

Figure 2: Computed tomography scan of the chest showing compression of the trachea by the right aortic arch.

Figure3
  • Download figure
  • Open in new tab
  • Download powerpoint

Figure 3: (A) A computed tomography scan in coronal view and (B) a 3-dimensional reconstruction of the scan show an abnormal bronchial structure (arrow) arising from the main bronchus above the carina.

First described by Sandifort in 1785,1 tracheal bronchus is an aberrant, accessory or ectopic bronchial branch arising directly from the lateral wall of the trachea2 above the carina. It is congenital and has an incidence of about 2%.3 A right-sided bronchus such as the one we describe is not rare. Although developmental bronchial anomalies usually manifest in infancy or early childhood, some people may have no symptoms until adulthood. The anomaly may be discovered incidentally on computed tomography scans of the chest performed for some other reason. Tracheal bronchus is associated with recurrent infection and, in children, respiratory distress. Rarely, a tracheal bronchus may be intubated inadvertently during the administration of anesthesia or the treatment of respiratory failure. The resulting obstruction can cause atelectasis, postobstructive pneumonia or respiratory failure.

REFERENCES

  1. 1.↵
    Kubik S, Müntener M. Bronchus abnormalities: tracheal, eparterial, and pre-eparterial bronchi [German]. Fortschr Geb Rontgenstr Nuklearmed 1971;114:145-63.
    OpenUrlPubMed
  2. 2.↵
    Ghaye B, Szapiro D, Fanchamps JM, et al. Congenital bronchial abnormalities revisited. Radiographics 2001;21:105-19.
    OpenUrlPubMed
  3. 3.↵
    O'Sullivan BP, Frassica JJ, Rayder SM. Tracheal bronchus: a cause of prolonged atelectasis in intubated children. Chest 1998;113:537-40.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Canadian Medical Association Journal: 180 (7)
CMAJ
Vol. 180, Issue 7
31 Mar 2009
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author

Article tools

Respond to this article
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
To sign up for email alerts or to access your current email alerts, enter your email address below:
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on CMAJ.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Tracheal bronchus
(Your Name) has sent you a message from CMAJ
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the CMAJ web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Tracheal bronchus
Fu-Chieh Shih, Wei-Jing Lee, Hung-Jung Lin
CMAJ Mar 2009, 180 (7) 783; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.080280

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
‍ Request Permissions
Share
Tracheal bronchus
Fu-Chieh Shih, Wei-Jing Lee, Hung-Jung Lin
CMAJ Mar 2009, 180 (7) 783; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.080280
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • REFERENCES
  • Figures & Tables
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • Persistent air leak after pulmonary transplantation
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Diffuse panbronchiolitis
  • Tension gastrothorax: a life-threatening cause of acute abdominal pain
  • Orange discoloration of the palms
Show more Clinical Images

Similar Articles

Collections

  • Sections
    • Clinical Images
  • Topics
    • Respiratory medicine

Content

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Collections
  • Sections
  • Blog
  • Podcasts
  • Alerts
  • RSS
  • Early releases

Information for

  • Advertisers
  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • CMA Members
  • Media
  • Reprint requests
  • Subscribers

About

  • General Information
  • Journal staff
  • Editorial Board
  • Governance Council
  • Journal Oversight
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Copyright and Permissions

Copyright 2021, Joule Inc. or its licensors. All rights reserved. ISSN 1488-2329 (e) 0820-3946 (p)

All editorial matter in CMAJ represents the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Canadian Medical Association or its subsidiaries.

Powered by HighWire