posted on 2018-12-03, 19:33authored byRaul Caso, Puja G. Khaitan, Christian Charles Shults, T J Watson, M. Blair Marshall
A 15-year-old girl initially presented with complete obstruction of her left main stem bronchus with complete atelectasis of the left lung. She had been like this for one year. The left main stem was cleared with a bronchoscope and the lung re-expanded. The diagnosis was a granular cell tumor of the distal left side of the trachea and left main stem bronchus. She and her parents requested a minimally invasive approach. Initially, the authors thought this would not be possible. However, with continued improvement in minimally invasive technique, they changed their opinion. They prepared for the procedure by performing the operation on a cadaver. Using the lessons learned and knowledge gained from this cadaveric simulation, they then performed the procedure on the patient. The patient did well, and she returned to school two weeks following the procedure. This video demonstrates the cadaveric procedure as well as the carinal resection and reconstruction.