Improving Airways Patency and Ventilation Through Optimal Positive Pressure Identified by Noninvasive Mechanical Ventilation Titration in Mounier-Kuhn Syndrome: Protocol for an Interventional, Open-Label, Single-Arm Clinical Trial

BACKGROUND: Mounier-Kuhn syndrome or congenital tracheobronchomegaly is a rare disease characterized by dilation of the trachea and the main bronchi within the thoracic cavity. The predominant signs and symptoms of the disease include coughing, purulent and abundant expectoration, dyspnea, snoring, wheezing, and recurrent respiratory infection. Symptoms of the disease in some patients are believed to be pathological manifestations arising due to resident tracheobronchomalacia. Although treatment options used for the management of this disease include inhaled bronchodilators, corticosteroids, and hypertonic solution, there is no consensus on the treatment. The use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) has been reported as a potential therapeutic option for tracheobronchomalacia, but no prospective studies have demonstrated its efficacy in this condition. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this is to identify the presence of tracheobronchomalacia and an optimal CPAP pressure that reduces the tracheobronchial collapse in patients with Mounier-Kuhn syndrome and to analyze the repercussion in pulmonary ventilation. In parallel, we aim to evaluate the prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome. METHODS: This interventional, open-label, single-arm clinical trial will enroll patients who are diagnosed Mounier-Kuhn syndrome. Patient evaluation will be conducted in an outpatient clinic and involve 3 visits. Visit 1 will involve the collection and registration of social demographic, clinical, and functional data. Visit 2 will entail polysomnography, bronchoscopy for the evaluation of tracheobronchomalacia, titration of the optimal pressure that reduces the degree of collapse of the airway, and electrical impedance tomography. In visit 3, patients exhibiting a reduction in collapse areas will be requested to undergo chest computed tomography during inspiration and forced expiration with and without positive pressure (titrated to determine optimal CPAP pressure). RESULTS: This protocol is a doctorate project. The project was submitted to the institutional review board on January 24, 2017, and approval was granted on February 2, 2017 (Brazilian Research database number CAAE 64001317.4.000.0068). Patient evaluations started in April 2018. Planned recruitment is based on volunteers’ availability and clinical stability, and interventions will be conducted at least once a month to finish the project at the end of 2020. A preliminary analysis of each case will be performed after each intervention, but detailed results are expected to be reported in the first quarter of 2021. CONCLUSIONS: There is no consensus on the best treatment options for managing Mounier-Kuhn syndrome. The use of positive pressure could maintain patency of the collapsed airways, functioning as a “pneumatic stent” to reduce the degree of airflow obstruction. This, in turn, could promote mobilization of thoracic secretion and improve pulmonary ventilation. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrails.gov NCT03101059; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03101059. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/14786