Congenital laryngomalacia is the most common cause of stridor in infants and usually resolves without therapy by 12-18 months of age. However, a recent study found that laryngomalacia may leave structural and functional traces with increased risk of later respiratory symptoms, suggesting that late-onset laryngomalacia may represent long-term consequences of milder or even undiagnosed forms. Unu...

A 32-year-old female regularly attended the outpatient clinic for pulmonology with recurrent pulmonary infections. Her medical history revealed an operation on the right lung 25 years previously for persistent tuberculosis in that lung. The nature of the operation was unknown at clinical admission. Besides this, asthma had been diagnosed 2 years previously. In a regular visit, the patient compl...

Paradoxical vocal cord motion (PVCM) is a dysfunction more often seen by otolaryngologists, but of which the anesthesiologist must also be aware of in order to prevent inappropriate invasive airway interventions. For the anesthesiologist, PVCM is most often seen as inspiratory stridor during the postoperative recovery period. Unfortunately, inspiratory stridor can also be a sentinel of impendin...

Twenty-one children who had been diagnosed as having laryngomalacia by direct laryngoscopy in infancy were reviewed 7 to 12 years later. The natural history of the disease is documented. A wide variation in the time of onset and duration of the stridor was found and there was a high incidence of feeding difficulties. A previously reported association with mental retardation or cerebral palsy is...