Whole-organ deceased donor tracheal allograft transplantation for the treatment of refractory tracheal stenosis: a case report

Abstract

Tracheal stenosis involving > 5 cm of trachea is debilitating for patients, impedes their quality of life and may even become lifethreatening. Large, open defects often result in these patients because of multiple failed tracheal resections and endoscopic dilatations. Tracheal transplantation has been proposed as a curative solution, but revascularization of the trachea as an allograft has generally been considered prohibitively challenging due to a tenuous blood supply. We report a multidisciplinary effort resulting in the first vascularized, single-stage, deceased donor tracheal allograft transplantation in a woman with long-segment tracheal stenosis.