The Value of Multi-slice Spiral CT in Follow-up of the Tracheal Stent

Objective: Comparing the multi-slice helical CT with bronchoscopy findings of proximal-airways stenting to assess the value of multi-slice spiral CT. Methods: 130 patients with 130 endobronchial stents inserted for malignancy(n=109) or benign diseases(n=21) underwent follow-up multi-slice helical CT and with subsequent multi-slice reformation and three dimensional reconstruction at 3 months or complications aggravated. Bronchoscopy was carried out in(1.2 ± 0.6) days. Of the stent location, shape, and adjacent lumen airway patency were evaluated by two experienced doctors. Kappa test was used to the check the consistency of the results of two doctors. Paired chi-square test to determine the diagnostic accuracy of CT stent complications. Results: CT results of 61(46.9%) patients showed no complications, 5 patients showed discrepancies, the latter bronchoscopy show tracheal stent granuloma, a slight narrowing of the lumen(< 25%). 69 cases(53.1%) showed abnormal changes in the lumen on CT. 4 cases were misdiagnosis as tumor recurrence and confirmed granuloma by bronchoscopy, the CT result of remaining 65 cases were consistent with the diagnosis of the bronchoscope. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of CT diagnosis was 96.2%, 100% and 93.1%, respectively. Conclusion: Computed tomography is an accurate noninvasive method for evaluating endobronchial stents. CT is a useful technique for follow up of patients who have undergone endobronchial stenting.