Your airway consists of several sections, including:

• Throat: Called the pharynx, it connects the nose and mouth to the windpipe
• Voice box: Called the larynx, it contains the vocal cords and helps with breathing, swallowing, and speaking
• Windpipe: Called the trachea, it's the main airway that carries air to the lungs
• Bronchi: The air tubes that branch from the windpipe and lead into the lungs

Complex airway disorders block or narrow breathing passages. You may have inherited your disorder, or it may have developed from an injury or illness. Some of these conditions affect both children and adults.

Causes of complex airway disorders include:

• Trauma
• An inflammatory disease
• Having a breathing tube inserted for a long time
• Having a tracheostomy, which is a small opening in the windpipe (trachea) to help a person breathe
• Cancerous or non-cancerous tumors in the airway
• Airway differences caused by a genetic disease

Symptoms of complex airway disorders vary, depending on the condition. But in general, signs of an airway disorder include:

• Shortness of breath, especially when you exercise
• Congestion in your chest or being unable to clear mucus
• Wheezing when you breathe out
• A harsh cough that sounds like a bark 
• Hoarseness in your voice
• A high-pitched noise that happens when you breathe in or out, called stridor
• Coughing up blood
• Difficulty swallowing

These symptoms typically begin slowly and get worse over time. Complex airway disorders can be challenging to diagnose. Similar symptoms occur in lung diseases like COPD and asthma.

Airway disorders happen for many reasons and in various parts of your airway. 

Types of complex airway disorders include:

• Airway stenosis: Narrowing of the airways caused by inflammation, injury, or scar tissue. It can occur below the vocal cords (subglottic), at or above the vocal cords (laryngeal), or in the windpipe (tracheal).
• Airway malacia: Weak or soft trachea or bronchi that collapse and block breathing. It's sometimes present at birth or develops later, often after long-term ventilator use.
• Airway tumors: Growths in the windpipe, throat, or voice box that block breathing. Tumors may be benign or cancerous.

Your treatment depends on your specific condition. If you have a malignant airway tumor, for instance, you may need cancer medicines or radiation. Other conditions may require surgery.

We use advanced lung testing and imaging to diagnose and treat airway disorders.

Thoracic procedures and surgery

We offer a range of procedures to widen your airways, remove tumors, and help you breathe. 

They include:

• Laser bronchoscopy: A laser beam burns away scar tissue in the trachea. It relieves blockage and lets doctors get specimens for testing.
• Tracheal dilation: A balloon or other dilator stretches your windpipe for easier breathing.
• Airway stent: A small tube holds your airway open.
• Airway resection: Surgeons remove the problem area and join the parts of the windpipe together again.

Less invasive treatments 

Sometimes surgery isn’t an option. Other ways to remove airway tumors include:

• Photodynamic therapy: Uses light-activated medicine to destroy abnormal cells
• Cryotherapy: Uses extreme cold to remove abnormal tissue
• Endobronchial brachytherapy: A radiation treatment that minimizes damage to nearby healthy tissue