PRACTICA OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGICA

Vol. 97  No. 1  January　2004

Acquired Laryngomalacia
 

Shigenori Ode, Tsuneo Inoue, Akiko Tokumaru, 
Tsugio Abe and Kensuke Watanabe                   
(Dokkyo University School of Medicine, Koshigaya Hospital)

       We reported a case of inspiratory dyspnea due to epiglottal prolapse that developed when the patient was 14 years old. This condition is very rare in adolescence and there are no published reports involving patients less than 20 years old. There was neither a history of head and neck surgery, nor any head injury or coma. On laryngofiberscopy, there were no abnormal findings.
      However, prolapse of the epiglottis during inspiration was noted when constrained respiration occurred with the cervix in a lordotic posision. The diagnosis was acquired laryngomalacia. A partial epiglottectomy (half) with a CO₂ laser improved the respiratory condition, but the cause of the laryngomalacia was not pathologically clarified.

Key words : acquired laryngomalacia, inspiratory dyspnea, epiglottal prolapse, partial epiglottectomy, CO₂ laser

第97巻1号　目次　  Vol.97 No.1 contents