funahashi yoriko

Background. Silicone stent placement for central airway obstruction has become widespread as an effective therapy which gives patients immediate relief from respiratory symptoms, and various devices or procedures have been developed. For obstruction of the main carina, a Dumon^[○!R] Y-stent (Tracheobronxane^<TM> Y; Novatech; La Ciotat, France) is currently employed. We report a case of small cell lung cancer with symptoms of central airway obstruction who underwent double Y-stent placement on the involved main carina and carina between the right upper lobe bronchus and the truncus intermedius. Case. A 57-year-old man who visited a medical practitioner with a complaint of progressive dyspnea was referred to us because of wheezing and hypoxia. It revealed that the main carina and the carina between the right upper lobe bronchus and the truncus intermedius were severely obstructed by mediastinal or hilar lymphadenopathy. He was diagnosed as small cell lung cancer by endobronchial ultrasoundguided transbronchial needle aspiration and underwent double Y-stent placement in the main carina and the carina between the right upper lobe bronchus and the truncus intermedius 5 days after admission. Symptoms improved and chemotherapy started immediately was so effective that the tumor size was remarkably reduced and double Y-stent successfully removed. Conclusion. We performed double Y-stent placement on a patient with severe respiratory symptoms because of central airway obstruction. Symptoms improved dramatically and enabled curative chemotherapy.