Infantile intrathoracic large airway obstruction in a setting with a high prevalence of tuberculosis/HIV

AbstractBackgroundThere has been no detailed analysis of the cause of intrathoracic large airway obstruction in infants in a resource-limited environment with a high prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).AimTo define the aetiology and severity of intrathoracic large airway obstruction in infants in a tertiary South African hospital with a high prevalence of PTB and HIV.MethodsA retrospective study of infants was conducted with computerised tomography (CT) evidence of intrathoracic large airway obstruction from 1 January 2011 to 31 May 2014. CT scans were evaluated for the cause, site and severity of airway narrowing, with severity stratified as ‘mild’ ( 75%).ResultsForty-four patients (28 males, 64%; median age 145 days, range 5–331), and 79 sites of attenuation were included. Vascular (22/44, 50%) and nodal (18/44, 41%) compressions accounted for over 90% of cases. Thirty-five patients (79.5%) had at least one site of mod...