Presentation
Presented with open mouth breathing and expiratory wheezing for 4 months.
Patient Data
On the lateral projection, there are two rounded mineral opacities in the tracheal lumen. These appear to be occluding the majority of the tracheal lumen. The opacities are faintly visible on the straightened dorsoventral projection.
The left mandible is consistently asymmetric and medially displaced compared to the right with an area of expansion and increased opacity.
Intramural or intraluminal tracheal obstruction. The mass could be a chondroma arising from tracheal cartilage or a foreign body.
The section of trachea containing the masses was resected successfully. Ultrasound was used to identify the abnormal cartilages and marked on the skin surface. The snake recovered well post-surgery.
Case Discussion
The trachea was surgically resected at the site of the obstruction. Histopathology revealed chondroma obstructing 90% of the tracheal lumen. The chondroma was comprised of randomly organized chondrocytes in lacunae in a cartilaginous matrix.
Due to the small size of the animal, it was not possible to determine if the mass was arising from the tracheal wall or lodged within the lumen. The addition of ultrasound imaging allowed for identifying abnormal cartilage rings to localize the area for surgery. This also strengthened the diagnosis of chondroma as arising from a cartilage ring.
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