Tracheo-bronchitis associated with Crohn's disease improved on inhaled corticotherapy.

We report a case of tracheo-bronchitis in Crohn's disease. A 23-year-old Japanese woman who had been diagnosed with Crohn's disease three years previously was hospitalized. She had been suffering from dry cough for one month. Computed tomography of the chest revealed marked thickening of the tracheal wall. Bronchoscopy showed erythematous and edematous mucosa with diffuse whitish granular lesions in the trachea and bronchi. The bronchial biopsy specimens showed non-specific inflammatory infiltrates consisting of lymphocytes and plasma cells, and hyperplasia of bronchial glands. Inhaled corticotherapy, fluticasone propionate 800 microg/day, was effective for both the inflammatory mucosa and thickened tracheal wall.