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Stridor Secondary to Acquired Subglottic Cyst: Rarity Makes it Missed

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Abstract

Subglottic cysts (SGCs) are a rare cause of airway obstruction in children. Medical advances, higher survival rates for preterm infants, and improved diagnostic equipment have increased the number of reported cases of SGCs over the last three decades, the majority occurring in infants who had been extremely premature neonates and had suffered from respiratory distress, therefore having been intubated and managed in neonatal ICUs. Symptoms of laryngeal cysts depend on the size and the location of the cyst and include a change in the tone of voice, dysphonia, hoarseness, dysphagia, stridor, and dyspnea. This condition is often misdiagnosed as laryngomalacia, asthma, croup, or other diseases, due to the fact that it manifests as recurring respiratory infections, stridor, and wheezing. Death can occur in severe cases that are not treated. When present, it may account for severe inspiratory stridor that compromise the airway. The accepted gold standard treatment is direct laryngoscopy with marsupialization of the cyst to prevent recurrence. Two cases of subglottic cyst in our centre are described here. Although all cases presented differently, but in both of our cases, which have previous history of intubation with prematurity were initially diagnosed as laryngomalacia and croup.

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Correspondence to Goh Bee See.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Research Ethics Committee, The National University of Malaysia operates in accordance to the International Conference of Harmonization Good Clinical Practice Guidelines.

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Informed consent was obtained from the individual participant involved in this study.

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See, G.B., Mesran, I. Stridor Secondary to Acquired Subglottic Cyst: Rarity Makes it Missed. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 71 (Suppl 1), 45–48 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12070-016-0992-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12070-016-0992-2

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