Early treatment burden predicts recurrence or progression after bronchoscopic intervention for infection- or injury-related benign airway stenosis: A two-center longitudinal cohort study.

Authors

Jiaping Liu, Zhina Wang, Ying Lin, Heng Zou, Shujuan Pan, Shuiping Chen, Hong Gao, Nan Zhang, Hongwu Wang

Published in

Therapeutic advances in respiratory disease. Volume 20. Pages 17534666261483782. Epub Aug 26, 2026.

Abstract

BackgroundPatients with infection- or injury-related benign airway stenosis often require repeated bronchoscopic interventions, but evidence is limited on how early treatment patterns can guide follow-up and risk reassessment.ObjectivesTo derive phase-adapted surveillance windows after bronchoscopic intervention and determine whether the 24-week treatment trajectory identifies patients at increased risk of subsequent recurrence or progression.DesignTwo-center retrospective longitudinal cohort study.MethodsPatients treated between January 2019 and December 2024 were included if they had infection- or injury-related benign airway stenosis and did not receive stent or T-tube placement during follow-up. Adjacent bronchoscopic records separated by ≤1 week were merged into one treatment episode. Valid intervals were defined as adjacent records separated by >1 week with assessable recurrence/progression status. Risk strata were constructed using treatment episodes within 24 weeks and window-end airway control: low risk, 1-3 episodes with adequate control; intermediate risk, 4-5 episodes or 1-3 episodes with inadequate control; and high risk, ≥6 episodes. A 24-week landmark analysis evaluated subsequent composite events.ResultsOverall, 213 patients contributed 879 valid intervals. Data-informed surveillance windows were approximately 1 week in the early phase, 2-3 weeks in the mid and consolidation phases, and 4-5 weeks in the maintenance phase. Among 93 patients included in landmark analysis, post-landmark composite event proportions were 31.3%, 60.9%, and 80.6% in the low-, intermediate-, and high-risk groups, respectively (log-rank P<0.001). In multivariable Cox regression, the high-risk group had a significantly increased risk of composite events (HR=5.849, 95% CI 2.031-16.845, P=0.001), whereas the intermediate-risk group showed a non-significant trend (HR=2.514, 95% CI 0.920-6.871, P=0.072).ConclusionEarly treatment burden provides clinically meaningful risk stratification after bronchoscopic intervention for benign airway stenosis. Six or more treatment episodes within 24 weeks may identify a treatment-dependent high-risk phenotype requiring intensified surveillance and comprehensive reassessment.

PMID:
42647847
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 27 Aug 2026.

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