Treatment of long-segment congenital tracheal stenosis with congenital cardiovascular defects in infancy.

Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the outcomes of simultaneous repair for infants with long-segment congenital tracheal stenosis (LSCTS) with congenital cardiovascular defects (CCD).

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical data of infants aged less than 1 year with LSCTS and CCD who underwent simultaneous repair at Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from January 2020 to March 2023. A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library for the relevant published studies that reported the simultaneous repair of CTS and CCD in infancy was conducted in March 2023. The inverse variance method of DerSimonian-Laird (D + L) was used for estimate synthesis.

Results: A total of thirteen infants with a mean age of 5.6 ± 3.1 months and a mean weight of 6.4 ± 0.9 Kg underwent slide tracheoplasty with modified procedures and cardiovascular operations. LSCTS was diagnosed in all thirteen patients. Nine infants were ventilator dependent, and four patients were operated on due to persistent wheezing and recurrent respiratory infections. Seven patients underwent pulmonary artery sling repair, and six underwent atrial septal defect repair. All infants were repaired utilizing cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) support. Significant complications were recorded in three patients. In-hospital deaths were seen in one case. The median tracheal minimum diameter of hospital survivors was significantly larger than the preoperative minimum diameter (p < 0.001). The mean follow-up duration was 17.1 ± 7.1 months. There was no late mortality during the follow-up. Twelve studies were included based on our search strategy. The pooled estimate of mortality in the literature was 10.9% (95%CI, 5.3%-17.7%, I = 0). The pooled estimate of airway re-interventions was 28.8% (95%CI, 14.5%-43.2%, I = 74%).

Conclusions: Simultaneous repair of LSCTS and CCD in infancy is safe and effective. Slide tracheoplasty with appropriate technical modifications may be valid for LSCTS repair without significant restenosis and reinterventions.