A case of thyroid cancer involving the trachea: treatment by partial tracheal resection and repair with a latissimus dorsi musculocutaneous flap.

A 65 year-old man had undergone left thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer. The cancer had directly invaded the cervical esophagus and trachea and the patient was referred to our hospital for radical resection and reconstruction. Cervical computed tomography showed a mass at the left-posterior wall of the trachea. Cervical esophagectomy, resection of the left half of the trachea (6 x 3 cm) including seven rings and cervical lymph node dissection were performed. The tracheal defect was covered by a latissimus dorsi musculocutaneous flap. The patient did not lose vocal function and remains alive and well 3 years after surgery without any evidence of recurrence. Latissimus dorsi muscle flap coverage of tracheal defects seems to be a useful technique in the combined resection of the trachea.