Bronchoscopy and Esophagoscopy Part 15

_Tuberculosis of the larynx_ calls for conservatism in the application of surgery. Ulceration limited to the epiglottis may justify amputation of the projecting portion or excision of only the ulcerated area. In either case, rapid healing may be expected, and relief from the odynphagia is sometimes prompt. Amputation of the epiglottis is, however, not to be done if ulceration in other portions of the larynx coexist. The removal of tuberculomata is sometimes indicated, and the excision of limited ulcerative lesions situated elsewhere than on the epiglottis may be curative. These measures as well as the galvanocautery are easily executed by the facile operator; but their advisability should always be considered from a conservative viewpoint. They are rarely justifiable until after months of absolute silence and a general ant.i.tuberculous regime have failed of benefit.

_Galvanopuncture_ for laryngeal tuberculosis has yielded excellent results in reducing the large pyriform edematous swellings of the aryepiglottic folds when ulceration has not yet developed. Deep punctures at nearly a white heat, made perpendicular to the surface, are best. Care must be exercised not to injure the cricoarytenoid joint. Fungating ulcerations may in some cases be made to cicatrize by superficial cauterization. Excessive reactions sometimes follow, so that a light application should be made at the first treatment.

_Congenital laryngeal stridor_ is produced by an exaggeration of the infantile type of larynx. The epiglottis will be found long and tapering, its lateral margins rolled backward so as to meet and form a cylinder above. The upper edges of the aryepiglottic folds are approximated, leaving a narrow c.h.i.n.k. The lack of firmness in these folds and the loose tissue in the posterior portion of the larynx, favors the drawing inward of the laryngeal aperture by the inspiratory blast. The vibration of the margins of this aperture produces the inspiratory stridor. Diagnosis is quickly made by the inspection of the larynx with the infant diagnostic laryngoscope. No anesthetic, general or local, is needed. Stridorous respiration may also be due to the presence of laryngeal papillomata, laryngeal spasm, thymic compression, congenital web, or an abnormal inspiratory bulging into the trachea of the posterior membranous tracheo-esophageal wall. The term "congenital laryngeal stridor" should be limited to the first described condition of exaggerated infantile larynx.

_Treatment of congenital laryngeal stridor_ should be directed to the relief of dyspnea, and to increasing the nutrition and development of the infant. The insertion of a bronchoscope will temporarily relieve an urgent dyspneic attack precipitated by examination; but this rarely happens if the examination is not unduly prolonged. Tracheotomy may be needed to prevent asphyxia or exhaustion from loss of sleep; but very few cases require anything but attention to nutrition and hygiene.

Recovery can be expected with development of the laryngeal structures.

_Congenital webs of the larynx_ require incision or excision, or perhaps simply bouginage. Congenital goiter and congenital laryngeal paralysis, both of which may cause stertorous breathing, are considered in connection with other forms of stenosis of the air pa.s.sages.

_Aphonia_ due to cicatricial webs of the larynx may be cured by plastic operations that reform the cords, with a clean, sharp anterior commissure, which is a necessity for clear phonation. The laryngeal scissors and the long slender punch are often more useful for these operations than the knife.

[224] CHAPTER XXIX--BRONCHOSCOPY IN DISEASES OF THE TRACHEA AND BRONCHI

_The indications for bronchoscopy in disease_ are becoming increasingly numerous. Among the more important may be mentioned: 1. Bronchiectasis.

2. Chronic pulmonary abscess.

3. Unexplained dyspnea.

4. Dyspnea unrelieved by tracheotomy calls for bronchoscopic search for deeper obstruction.

5. Paralysis of the recurrent laryngeal nerve, the cause of which is not positively known.

6. Obscure thoracic disease.

7. Unexplained hemoptysis.

8. Unexplained cough.

9. Unexplained expectoration.

_Contraindications to bronchoscopy in disease_ do not exist if the bronchoscopy is really needed. Serious organic disease such as aneurysm, hypertension, advanced cardiac disease, might render bronchoscopy inadvisable except for the removal of foreign bodies.

_Bronchoscopic Appearances in Disease_.--The first look should note the color of the bronchial mucosa, due allowance being made for the pressure of tubal contact, secretions, and the engorgement incident to continued cough. The carina trachealis normally moves slowly forward as well as downward during deep inspiration, returning quickly during expiration. Impaired movement of the carina indicates peritracheal and peribronchial pathology, the fixation being greatest in advanced cancer. In children and in the smaller tubes of the adult, the lengthening and dilatation of the bronchi during inspiration, and their shortening and contraction during expiration are readily seen.

_Anomalies of the Tracheobronchial Tree_.--Tracheobronchial anomalies are relatively rare. Congenital esophagotracheal and esophagobronchial fistulae are occasionally seen, and cases of cervicotracheal fistulae have been reported. Congenital webs and diverticula of the trachea are cited infrequently. Laryngoptosis and deviation of the trachea may be congenital. Substernal goitre, aneurysm, malignant growths, and various mediastinal adenopathies may displace the trachea from its normal course. The emphysematous chest fixed in the deep voluntary inspiratory position produces in some cases an elevation of the superior thoracic aperture simulating laryngoptosis (Bibliography r, pp. 468, 594).

_Compression Stenosis of the Trachea and Bronchi_.--Compression of the trachea is most commonly caused by goiter, substernal or cervical, aneurysm, malignancy, or, in children, by enlarged thymus. Less frequently, enlarged mediastinal tuberculous, leukemic, leutic or Hodgkin's glands compress the airway. The left bronchus may be stenosed by pressure from a hypertrophied cardiac auricle. Compression stenosis of the trachea a.s.sociated with pulmonary emphysema accounts for the dyspnea during attacks of coughing.

The endoscopic picture of compression stenosis is that of an elliptical or scabbard-shaped lumen when the bronchus is at rest or during inspiration. Concentric funnel-like compression stenosis, while rare, may be produced by annular growths.

_Treatment of Compression Stenoses of the Trachea_.--If the thymus be at fault, rapid amelioration of symptoms follows roentgenray or radium therapy. Tracheotomy and the insertion of the long cane-shaped cannula (Fig. 104) past the compressed area is required in the cases caused by conditions less amenable to treatment than thymic enlargement.

Permanent cure depends upon the removability of the compressive ma.s.s.

Should the bronchi be so compressed by a benign condition as to prevent escape of secretions from the subjacent air pa.s.sages, bronchial intubation tubes may be inserted, and, if necessary, worn constantly. They should be removed weekly for cleansing and oftener if obstructed.

_Influenzal Laryngotracheobronchitis_.--Influenzal infection, not always by the same organism, sweeps over the population, attacking the air pa.s.sages in a violent and quite characteristic way. Bronchoscopy shows the influenzal infection to be characterized by intense reddening and swelling of the mucosa. In some cases the swelling is so great as to necessitate tracheotomy, or intubation of the larynx; and if the edema involve the bronchi, occlusion may be fatal. Hemorrhagic spots and superficial erosions are commonly seen, and a thick, tenacious exudate, difficult of expectoration, lies in patches in the trachea. Infants may asphyxiate from acc.u.mulation of this secretion which they are unable to expel. The differential diagnosis from diphtheria is sometimes difficult. The absence of true membrane and the failure to find diphtheria bacilli in smears taken from the trachea are of aid but are not infallible. In doubtful cases, the administration of diphtheria ant.i.toxin is a wise precaution pending the establishment of a definite diagnosis. The pseudomembrane sometimes present in influenzal tracheobronchitis is thinner and less pulpy than that of the earlier stages of diphtheria. The casts of the later stages do not occur in influenzal tracheobronchitis (Bibliography I, p. 480).

_Edematous Tracheobronchitis_.--This is chiefly observed in children.

The most frequently encountered form is the epidemic disease to which the name "Influenza" has been given (q.v. supra). The only noticeable difference between the epidemic and the sporadic cases is in the more general susceptibility to the infective agent, which gives the influenzal form an appearance of being more virulently infective.

Possibly the sporadic form is simply the attack of children not immunized by a previous attack during an epidemic.

There is another form of edematous tracheobronchitis often of great severity and grave prognosis, that results from the aspiration of irritating liquids or vapors, or of certain organic substances such as peanut kernels, watermelon seeds, etcetera. Tracheotomy should be done if marked dyspnea be present. Secretions can then be easily removed and medication in the form of oily solutions be instilled at will into the trachea. In the Bronchoscopic Clinic many children have been kept alive for days, and their lives finally saved by aspiration of thick, tough, sometimes clotted and crusted secretions, with the aspirating tube (Fig. 10). It is better in these cases not to pa.s.s the bronchoscope repeatedly. If, however, evidences of obstruction remain, after aspiration, it is necessary to see the nature of the obstruction and relieve it by removal, dilatation, or bronchial intubation as the case may require. It is all a matter of "plumbing" i.e., clearing out the "pipes," and maintaining a patulous airway.

_Tracheobronchial Diphtheria_.--Urgent dyspnea in diphtheria when no membrane and but slight lessening of the laryngeal airway is seen, calls for bronchoscopy. Many lives have been saved by the bronchoscopic removal of membrane obstructing the trachea or bronchi.

In the early stages, pulpy ma.s.ses looking like "mother" of vinegar are very obstructive. Later casts of membrane may simulate foreign bodies.

The local application of diphtheria ant.i.toxin to the trachea and bronchi has also been recommended. A preparation free from a chemical irritant should be selected.

_Abscess of the Lung_.--If of foreign-body origin, pulmonary abscess almost invariably heals after the removal of the object and a regime of fresh air and rest, without local measures of any kind. Acute pulmonary abscess from other causes may require bronchoscopic drainage and gentle dilatation of the swollen and narrowed bronchi leading to it. Some of these bronchi are practically fistulae. Obstructive granulations should be removed with crushing, not biting forceps. The regular foreign-body forceps are best for this purpose. Caution should be used as to removal of the granulations with which the abscess "cavity" is filled in chronic cases. The term "abscess" is usually loosely applied to the condition of drowned lung in which the pus has acc.u.mulated in natural pa.s.sages, and in which there is neither a new wall nor a breaking down of normal walls. Chronic lung-abscess is often successfully treated by weekly bronchoscopic lavage with 20 cc.

or more of a warm, normal salt solution, a 1:1000 watery pota.s.sium permanganate solution, or a weak iodine solution as in the following formula: Rx. Monochlorphenol (Merck) .12 Lugol's solution 8.00 Normal salt solution 500.

Perhaps the best procedure is to precede medicinal applications by the clearing out of the purulent secretions by aspiration with the aspirating bronchoscope and the independent aspirating tube, the latter being inserted into pa.s.sages too small to enter with the bronchoscope, and the endobronchial instillation of from 10 to 30 cc.

of the medicament. The following have been used: Argyrol, 1 per cent watery solution; Silvol, 1 per cent watery solution; Iodoform, oil emulsion 10 per cent; Guaiacol, 10 per cent solution in paraffine oil; Gomenol, 20 per cent solution in oil; or a bis.m.u.th subnitrate suspension in oil. Robert M. Lukens and William F. Moore of the Bronchoscopic Clinic report excellent results in post-tonsillectomy abscesses from one tenth of one per cent phenol in normal salt solution with the addition of 2 per cent Lugol's solution. Chlorinated solutions are irritating, and if used, require copious dilution.

Liquid petrolatum with a little oil of eucalyptus has been most often the medium.

_Gangrene of the Lung_.--Pulmonary gangrene has been followed by recovery after the endobronchial injection of oily solutions of gomenol and guaiacol (Guisez). The injections are readily made through the laryngoscope without the insertion of a bronchoscope. A silk woven catheter may be used with an ordinary gla.s.s syringe or a long-nozzled laryngeal syringe, or a bronchoscopic syringe may be used.

_Lung-mapping_ by a roentgenogram taken promptly after the bronchoscopic insufflation of bis.m.u.th subnitrate powder or the injection of a suspension of bis.m.u.th in liquid petrolatum is advisable in most cases of pulmonary abscess before beginning any kind of treatment.

_Bronchial Stenosis_.--Stenosis of one or more bronchi results at times from cicatricial contraction following secondary infection of leutic, tuberculous or traumatic lesions. The narrowing resulting from foreign body traumatism rarely requires secondary dilatation after the foreign body has been removed. Tuberculous bronchial stenoses rarely require local treatment, but are easily dilated when necessary. Luetic cicatricial stenosis may require repeated dilatation, or even bronchial intubation. Endobronchial neoplasms may cause a subjacent bronchiectasis, and superjacent stenosis; the latter may require dilatation. Cicatricial stenoses of the bronchi are readily recognizable by the scarred wall and the absence of rings at or near the narrowing.

_Bronchiectasis_.--In most cases of bronchiectasis there are strong indications for a bronchoscopic diagnosis, to eliminate such conditions as foreign body, cicatricial bronchial stenosis, or endobronchial neoplasm as etiologic factors. In the idiopathic types considerable benefit has resulted from the endobronchial lavage and endobronchial oily injections mentioned under lung abscess. It is probable that if bronchoscopic study were carried out in every case, definite causes for many so-called "idiopathic" cases would be discovered. Lung-mapping as elsewhere herein explained is invaluable in the study of bronchiectasis.

_Bronchial asthma_ affords a large field for bronchoscopic study. As yet, sufficient data to afford any definite conclusions even as to the endoscopic picture of this disease have not been acc.u.mulated. Of the cases seen in the Bronchoscopic Clinic some showed no abnormality of the bronchi in the intervals between attacks, others a chronic bronchitis. In cases studied bronchoscopically during an attack, the bronchi were found filled with bubbling secretions and the mucosa was somewhat cyanotic in color. The bronchial lumen was narrowed only as much as it would be, with the same degree of cough, in any patient not subject to asthma. The secretions were removed and the attack quickly subsided; but no influence on the recurrence of attacks was observed.

It is essential that the bronchoscopic studies be made, as were these, without anesthesia, local or general, for it is known that the application of cocain or adrenalin to the larynx, or even in the nose, will, with some patients, stop the attack. When done without local anesthesia, allowance must be made for the reaction to the presence of the tube. In those cases in which other means have failed to give relief, the endobronchial application of novocain and adrenalin, orthoform, propaesin or anesthesin emulsion may be tried. Cures have been reported by this treatment. Argentic nitrate applied at weekly intervals has proven very efficient in some cases. a.s.sociated infective disease of the bronchial mucosa brings with it the questions of immunity, allergy, anaphylaxis, and vaccine therapy; and the often present defective metabolism has to be considered.

_Autodrownage_.--Autodrownage is the name given by the author to the drowning of the patient in his own secretions. Tracheobronchial secretions in excess of the amount required to moisten the inspired air, become, in certain cases, a mechanical menace to life, unless removed. The cough reflex, forced expiration, and ciliary action, normally remove the excess. When these mechanisms are impaired, as in profound asthenia, laryngeal paralysis, laryngeal or tracheal stenosis, etc.; and especially when in addition to a mild degree of glottic stenosis or impaired laryngeal mobility, the secretions become excessive, the acc.u.mulation may literally drown the patient in his own secretions. This is ill.u.s.trated frequently in influenza and arachidic bronchitis. Infants cannot expectorate, and their cough reflex is exceedingly ineffective in raising secretion to the pharynx; furthermore they are easily exhausted by bechic efforts; so that age may be cited as one of the most frequent etiologic factors in the condition of autodrownage. Bronchoscopic sponge-pumping (_q.v._) and bronchoscopic aspiration are quite efficient and can save any patient not afflicted with conditions that are fatal by other pathologic processes.

_Lues of the Tracheobronchial Tree_.--Compared to laryngeal involvement, syphilis of the tracheobronchial tree is relatively rare.

The lesions may be gummatous, ulcerative, or inflammatory, or there may be compressive granulomatous ma.s.ses. Hemoptysis may have its origin from a luetic ulceration. Excision of fungations or of a portion of the margin of the ulceration for biopsy is advisable. The Wa.s.sermann and therapeutic tests, and the elimination of tuberculosis will be required for confirmation. Luetic stenoses are referred to above.

_Tuberculosis of the Tracheobronchial Tree_.--The bronchoscopic study of tuberculosis is very interesting, but only a few cases justify bronchoscopy. The subglottic infiltrations from extensions of laryngeal disease are usually of edematous appearance, though they are much more firm than in ordinary inflammatory edema. Ulcerations in this region are rare, except as direct extensions of ulceration above the cord. The trachea is relatively rarely involved in tuberculosis, but we may have in the trachea the pale swelling of the early stage of a perichondritis, or the later ulceration and all the phenomena following the mixed pyogenic infections. These same conditions may exist in the bronchi. In a number of instances, the entire lumen of the bronchus was occluded by cheesy pus and debris of a peribronchial gland which had eroded through. As a rule, the mucosa of tuberculosis is pale, and the pallor is accentuated by the rather bluish streak of vessels, where these are visible. Erosion through of peri-bronchial or peri-tracheal lymph ma.s.ses may be a.s.sociated with granulation tissue, usually of pale color, but occasionally reddish; and sometimes oozing of blood is noticed. A most common picture in tuberculosis is a broadening of the carina, which may be so marked as to obliterate the carina and to bulge inward, producing deformed lumina in both bronchi.

Sometimes the lumina are crescentic, the concavity of the crescent being internal, that is, toward the median line. Absence of the normal anterior and downward movement of the carina on deep inspiration is almost pathognomonic of a ma.s.s at the bifurcation, and such a ma.s.s is usually tuberculous, though it may be malignant, and, very rarely, luetic. The only lesion visible in a tuberculous case may be cicatrices from healed processes. In a number of cases there has been a discharge of pus coming from the upper-lobe bronchus.

[Fig. 96.--The author's tampons for pulmonary hemostasis by bronchoscopic tamponade. The folded gauze is 10 cm. long; the braided silk cord 60 cm. long.]

_Hemoptysis_.--In cases not demonstrably tuberculous, hemoptysis may require bronchoscopic examination to determine the origin. Varices or unsuspected luetic, malignant, or tuberculous lesions may be found to be the cause. It is mechanically easy to pack off one bronchus with the author's packs (Fig. 96) introduced through the bronchoscope, but the advisability of doing so requires further clinical tests.

_Angioneurotic Edema_.--Angioneurotic edema manifests itself by a pale or red swollen mucosa producing stenosis of the lumen. The temporary character of the lesion and its appearance in other regions confirm the diagnosis.

_Scleroma of the trachea_ is characterized by infiltration of the tracheal mucosa, which greatly narrows the lumen. The infiltration may be limited in area and produce a single stricture, or it may involve the entire trachea and even close a bronchial orifice. Drying and crusting of secretions renders the stenosis still more distressing.

This disease is but rarely encountered in America but is not infrequent in some parts of Europe. Treatment consists in the prevention of crusts and their removal. Limited stenotic areas may yield to bronchoscopic bouginage. Urgent dyspnea calls for tracheotomy. Radium and roentgenray therapy have been advised, and cure has been reported by intravenous salvarsan treatment (see article by S. Shelton Watkins, on Scleroma in Surg. Gynecol. and Obst., July, 1921, p. 47).

_Atrophic tracheitis_, with symptoms quite similar to atrophic rhinitis is a not unusual accompaniment of the nasal condition. It may also exist without nasal involvement. On tracheoscopy the mucosa is thinned, pale and dry, and is covered with patches of thick mucilaginous secretion and crusts. Decomposition of secretion produces tracheal "ozena," while the acc.u.mulated crusts give rise to the sensation of a foreign body and may seriously interfere with respiration, making bronchoscopic removal imperative. The a.s.sociated development of tracheal nodular enchondromata has been described. The internal administration of iodine and the intratracheal injection of bland oily solutions of menthol, guaiacol, or gomenol are helpful.

[235] CHAPTER x.x.x--DISEASES OF THE ESOPHAGUS

The more frequent causes of the one common symptom of esophageal disease, dysphagia, are included in the list given below. To avoid elaboration and to obtain maximum usefulness as a reminder, overlapping has not been eliminated.

1. Anomalies.

2. Esophagitis, acute.

3. Esophagitis, chronic.

4. Erosion.

5. Ulceration.