Laryngomalacia, laryngeal cleft and congenital unilateral vocal cord palsy: A unique case treated endoscopically without intubation or tracheostomy. 

Zara NASSERI ¹, Bee See GOH ¹, Sandu K ², Sani A ¹

¹ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and ² Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Hospitalier du Centre du Valais, University of Lausanne, Switzerland

ABSTRACT

Laryngomalacia, congenital vocal cord palsy and laryngeal cleft are three separate pathologies which can independently cause stridor and failure to thrive in a neonate. We present a unique case all three entities. The diagnosis was confirmed on direct laryngoscopy and the cleft successfully repaired endoscopically. To our knowledge, this is the first case report where an infant presents with three contemporaneous pathologies; successfully treated endoscopically without intubation or tracheostomy.

Keywords: Laryngomalacia, laryngeal cleft, vocal cord palsy, paediatric, stridor, aspiration, failure to thrive

Correspondence author: Zara NASSERI, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Jalan Yaacob Latif, Cheras 56000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

E mail: zaranasseri@yahoo.co.uk      Tel: +6012-484 1322

Brunei Int Med J. 2014; 10 (1): 55-59