This 63 year-old woman presented with progressive shortness of breath and stridor. A lateral soft tissue x-ray of the neck revealed a large tracheal mass, arising from the posterior tracheal wall.
A CT scan (left) shows the same tumor, partially occluding the tracheal lumen. There is also enlargement of the left lobe of the thyroid gland.
A week later, mid-sagittal and coronal MRI slices demonstrate steady growth of the tumor which is now almost completely occluding the lumen
On direct laryngoscopy, the tumor fills most of the tracheal lumen. There lumen was reduced to a tiny slit. Frozen section showed a spindle cell tumor and the final diagnosis came back as leiomyoma of the trachea.