REVIEW ARTICLE

EXPIRATORY CENTRAL AIRWAY COLLAPSE: A CONCISE REVIEW

By
Septimiu D. Murgu, Henri G. Colt
Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California School of Medicine, Irvine, CA.

Expiratory central airway collapse is a clinical syndrome characterized by airflow limitation due to excessive narrowing of the central airways during exhalation. The syndrome consists of two entities, tracheobronchomalacia and excessive dynamic airway collapse, which are different in terms of morphology, physiology, etiology and structure. Treatment alternatives, which include conservative medical management, interventional bronchoscopic procedures and open surgery, should be individualized based on functional status, extent of disease and severity of airway collapse.

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