Abstract:Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy of photodynamic therapy combined with endobronchial stent implantation or with cryotherapy in the treatment of malignant central airway stenosis.Methods Forty-five patients with central airway stenosis caused by malignant tumor in Zhejiang Provincial People′s Hospital from October 2009 to October 2019 were retrospectively analyzed.According to the different interventional therapy,patients were divided into stent group(treated with stent implantation after photodynamic therapy, n=20) and cryotherapy group (treated with photodynamic therapy after cryotherapy, n=25).The increase of airway diameter,dyspnea score,clinical manifestation score,physical condition score［karnofsky performance scale index(KPS)］,respiratory function,complications,survival rate and average survival time after treatment were compared between two groups.Results After treatment,the diameters of trachea,left main bronchus and right main bronchus increased in cryotherapy group compared with stent group ( P<0.01).The degrees of stenosis were decreased after treatment in two groups and were decreased in cryotherapy group than those in stent group( P<0.05, P<0.01).The dyspnea score and the clinical manifestation score were lower,and the forced expiratory volume in the first second cryotherapy(FEV1),forced vital capacity (FVC) and KPS score were higher than those before treatment in two groups ( P<0.01),but there were no significant differences in these indicators between two groups ( P>0.05).No serious complications occurred in both groups,and there were no significant differences in survival rate and average survival time between two groups ( P>0.05).Conclusions Photodynamic therapy combined with stent implantation or cryotherapy are effective treatments to alleviate the symptoms of malignant airway stenosis.Both methods can rapidly dilate the narrow lumen,relieve the symptoms of dyspnea,and improve the respiratory function and the quality of life of patients.