MDCT: Non-invasive alternative to detect airway stent complications? – Medicexchange

Multi-detector Computed Tomography is highly accurate for detecting airway stent complications, study suggest.

The results of the study were published in American Journal of Roentgenology. The study was conducted at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre and Harvard Medical School in Boston to compare the detection rate of central airway stent complications using MDCT with bronchoscopy.

The study evaluated 21 patients suspected to have airway stent complications. These patients had undergone tracheal, tracheobronchial, or bronchial stent placement for benign or malignant airway disorders. MDCT images were interpreted in a blinded fashion by an experienced thoracic radiologist before bronchoscopy was performed, and the accuracy of MDCT was determined using bronchoscopy as the gold standard.

Thirty complications were detected in 21 patients, including stent luminal narrowing due to granulation tissue or secretions (or both), stent migration, stent fracture, stent invasion by adjacent neoplasm, and tracheal perforation. MDCT accurately detected 29 (97%) of the 30 complications diagnosed by bronchoscopy.

“Our results show that MDCT is a promising alternative to bronchoscopy for surveillance of stents for complications and has the potential to assist early detection of complications while they are most amenable to treatment. MDCT has the potential to replace bronchoscopy for the routine surveillance of patients with airway stents,” said Dr. Vandana Dialani, MD, lead author of the study.