Relationship between the different types of malignant central airway stenosis and the curative effect and prognosis of bronchoscopy interventional therapy

Objective To discuss whether the external pressure stenosis is related to the efficacy and prognosis of bronchoscopic interventional therapy in the mixed malignant central airway stenosis. Methods 60 consecutive inpatients with mixed malignant central airway stenosis of lung squamous cell carcinoma with dyspnea were selected.The degree of central airway stenosis was greater than 60% in Yingji General Hospital (original Meitan General Hospital) from June 2014 to July 2016.Among them, 30 patients without external pressure stenosis (group A) were treated with bronchoscopic tumor resection alone, 30 patients with external pressure stenosis (group B) were treated with bronchoscopic tumor resection and stent.All of them were treated with routine radiotherapy, chemotherapy or supportive treatment after bronchoscopic interventional therapy.To evaluate the short-term curative effect, we observed the symptoms of dyspnea, the improvement of airway stenosis, and the complications in the two groups.Patients were followed up, we judged the prognosis by progression free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and so on. Results The Karnofsky score (KPS), dyspnea grade, and airway stenosis degree of the two groups of patients were significantly improved after surgery (P<0.01). Compared with group B, postoperative dyspnea grade of group A was significantly lower than that of group B (P<0.01). The PFS and OS of group A were significantly higher than those of group B (P<0.05). Conclusions Bronchoscopic interventional therapy can improve ventilation quickly and significantly.The method is safe and effective in short term for patients with malignant airway stenosis.Patients with central airway stenosis with external pressure have worse prognosis. Key words: Lung neoplasms; Tracheal stenosis; Bronchoscopy; Prognosis