Severe tracheobronchial stenosis and bronchiectasis complicating ulcerative colitis

A 37-year-old woman with a 20-year history of ulcerative colitis (UC) was admitted with complaints of cough and increasing sputum production. Chest computed tomography showed severe stenosis of the left main bronchus and bronchiectasis of the left lower lobe. Biopsy specimens from the area of bronchial stenosis showed chronic inflammation with lymphocyte infiltration, and we diagnosed respiratory involvement of UC. The bronchial stenosis was successfully treated with yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) laser. UC is a systemic illness with occasional extraintestinal manifestations, but upper airway involvement is rare, and to our knowledge, this is the first published report of UC complicated with bronchopulmonary lesions with successful YAG laser treatment of the main bronchial stenosis.