Croup : A primer

Croup.

INTRODUCTION Croup is characterised by the abrupt onset, most commonly at night, of a barking cough, inspiratory stridor, hoarseness, and respiratory distress due to upper airway obstruction. It leads to signs of upper airway obstruction, and must be differentiated from acute epiglottitis, bacterial tracheitis, or an inhaled foreign body. Croup affects about 3% of children per year, usually bet...

Pseudomembranous croup.

During a 2-year period, 7 children were seen with a severe form of laryngotracheobronchitis associated with sloughing of the respiratory epithelium and profuse mucopurulent secretions. We have called this condition pseudomembranous croup. The children had severe upper airways obstruction, appeared toxic with high fever, and were older than the typical age group for viral laryngotracheobronchiti...

Viral croup.

Definition and Terminology The term “croup syndrome” refers to a group of diseases that varies in anatomic involvement and etiologic agents and includes laryngotracheitis, spasmodic croup, bacterial tracheitis, laryngotracheobronchitis, and laryngotracheobronchopneumonitis. Although the terms “laryngotracheitis” and “laryngotracheobronchitis” frequently are used interchangeably in the literatur...

A case of adult croup.

Croup, or laryngotracheobronchitis, is recognized as a common, generally benign illness in children. It is characterized by a barking cough, stridor, and fever, often preceded by an upper respiratory infection. The hallmark of croup is edema of the subglottic tissues, resulting in varying degrees of airway obstruction. In most pediatric patients, croup is a self-limited condition that may be sa...

A Novel Virus for Croup