Unmasking of tracheomalacia following short-term mechanical ventilation in a patient of adult respiratory distress syndrome

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are susceptible to airway malacia, which may be unmasked following mechanical ventilation or tracheostomy decannulation. Dynamic imaging of central airways, a non-invasive test as effective as bronchoscopy to diagnose airway malacia, has increased the recognition of this disorder. We describe a 70-year-old woman admitted with adult respiratory distress syndrome. She had cardiorespiratory arrest on admission, from which she was successfully resuscitated. She had obesity, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, recurrent ventricular tachycardia, sarcoidosis with interstitial lung disease and COPD. She received short-term (18 days) mechanical ventilation with tracheostomy and developed respiratory distress following tracheostomy decannulation.