Clinicopathologic study of thyroid carcinoma infiltrating the trachea

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Abstract
Eighteen patients (10 women and 8 men), ranging in age from 37 to 80 years, with thyroid carcinoma infiltrating the trachea comprised this series. Eleven had primary and 7 had recurrent cases. Total laryngectomy was performed in 4 patients, and tracheal resection was carried out followed by end‐to‐end anastomosis in 13 patients. In one patient, reconstruction was done with Naville's artificial trachea after tracheal resection. Eleven patients were alive after 1 year and 8 months to 6 years and 7 months after the operation. This result was significantly better than that of a group of ten patients without resection of the infiltrated trachea (seven patients died within 6 months). Thus, combined resection of the upper airway improved the prognosis of advanced thyroid carcinoma with tracheal infiltration. Histologic examination of surgical specimens demonstrated well‐differentiated carcinoma in seven patients, poorly differentiated carcinoma in seven patients, undifferentiated carcinoma in three patients, and squamous cell carcinoma in one patient. The result showed a higher frequency of poorly differentiated carcinoma than in the control group of 70 patients without tracheal infiltration.