Epiglottitis in the adult can be fatal and should be treated with the same degree of concern and suspicion in respect of airway patency as in children. We present three cases of adult epiglottitis in which the airway was lost prior to or during the intervention of an anaesthetist. We suggest that an emphasis on conservative management is distracting and belies the serious nature of this disease.

References eration cephalosporin such as cefuroxime, or the combination of high-dose ampicillin and chloramphenicol is recommended. 1. Mayo-Smith MF, Spinale JW, Donskey CJ, Yukawa M, Li RH, Schiffman MRSA should be considered in the differential diagnosis for adults FJ. Acute epiglottitis: an 18-year experience in Rhode Island. Chest 1995; with epiglottitis who fail to respond to conventional ...

PURPOSE To evaluate the radiologic characteristic of acute inflammation of the epiglottis and supraglottic structures in adults. METHODS The clinical and radiographic findings in 27 adult patients with epiglottitis (average age, 43 years; range, 28 to 81 years) were compared with those of a control group of asymptomatic subjects (n = 15; average age, 48 years; range, 24 to 79 years). Unusual ...

Adult acute epiglottitis is a rare but life-threatening disease caused by obstruction of the airway. The symptoms and signs of this disease may be nonspecific without apparent airway compromise. We encountered 3 consecutive cases of adult patients with this disease in a single 5-month period in one physician's office. In all cases, physical examination revealed tenderness of the anterior neck o...

Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) frequently involves the upper respiratory tracts, but involvement of the epiglottis is extremely rare. This report describes a patient initially presenting with dysphagia and increasing stridor due to epiglottitis. Bronchoscopy showed swelling of the epiglottis with partly whitish nodular lesions, with biopsy specimens showing neutrophil infiltration and n...