The evolution of tracheobronchoplasty.

Surgical support for patients with pulmonary emphysema and excessive airway collapse was first developed in the 1950s by Herzog and Nissen (1,2). At the time, the terms tracheal dyskinesia, dystonia, hypotonia and prolapse were used in French and German scientific literature to describe what was thought to be the cause of obstruction to expiratory airflow in this patient population, and is more currently known as excessive central airway collapse (ECAC) (1-4). Naturally, the surgical technique of tracheobronchoplasty (TBP) evolved since, but the goal has remained the same: to restore a normal configuration of the airway by stabilizing the cartilaginous rings and/or the redundant posterior membranous wall.