CASE REPORT article
Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Pediatric Pulmonology
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1552947
Tracheobronchial Ossification in Children: A Case Report and Review of the Literature
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Pediatrics, Fuzhou Pulmonary Hospital of Fujian, fuzhou, China
- 2Department of Laboratory，Fuzhou Second General Hospital, fuzhou, China
- 3Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China
- 4Department of Pediatric Surgery, Provincial Clinical Medical College, fuzhou, China
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Objective To report a case of tracheobronchial ossification (TO) in a child and review the related literature on its clinical signs, diagnosis, differential diagnosis, pathological characteristics, points and treatment measures.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of one pediatric patient with TO admitted to the Department of Pediatrics, Fuzhou Pulmonary Hospital. In addition, three relevant articles published up to July 2024 were reviewed from both domestic and international databases, including PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Data, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library. The clinical features of a total of four pediatric cases of tracheobronchial osteochondroplasia were summarized and analyzed.Results A 12-year-old girl with a 5-year history of symptoms was retrospectively reviewed. The patient presented with chronic cough, sputum, hemoptysis, and exertional dyspnea. Comorbidities such as bronchiectasis with cavitation, pneumonia, Klebsiella pneumoniae infection, and sinusitis were observed. Imaging revealed airway wall nodules and structural lung changes. Bronchoscopy showed scattered white nodules; histopathology confirmed mucosal ossification with focal bone marrow formation. Symptomatic improvement was achieved after anti-infective and supportive treatment. A four-year follow-up revealed recurrent pneumonia and progression of bronchiectasis. Three additional pediatric TO cases (aged 6 months to 9 years) were identified in the literature. Presentations included respiratory symptoms and recurrent infections. Pulmonary function abnormalities, typical radiologic and bronchoscopic features, and histopathologic evidence were variably reported. Treatments ranged from symptomatic therapy to bronchoscopic intervention. One patient died; one remained stable; follow-up data were limited.Conclusion TO can develop in children, with atypical chest CT and bronchoscopic changes, histopathologic examination can confirm the diagnosis, and symptomatic treatment is the mainstay.
Keywords: Pediatrics, Tracheobronchial, Osteomalacia Abbreviation:Tracheobronchial Ossification, to, Osteomalacia
Received: 29 Dec 2024; Accepted: 30 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ruan, Chen, Zhang, Huang, Tang and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Yan Ruan, Department of Pediatrics, Fuzhou Pulmonary Hospital of Fujian, fuzhou, China
Lizhi Li, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Provincial Clinical Medical College, fuzhou, China
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