Submucosal nerve hypertrophy in congenital laryngomalacia

✍ Scribed by Patrick D. Munson; Ali G. Saad; Siraj M. El-Jamal; Yuemeng Dai; Charles M. Bower; Gresham T. Richter

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 120 KB
• Volume: 121
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0023-852X
• DOI: 10.1002/lary.21360

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Objectives/Hypothesis:

To determine the neuropathologic findings in tissue obtained from children with laryngomalacia at a tertiary‐care pediatric hospital.

Study Design:

Retrospective review of consecutive cohort compared with a control group.

Methods:

We reviewed supra‐arytenoid pathology specimens from 43 children with severe laryngomalacia and 13 age‐matched pediatric autopsy controls. Histopathologic comparison was made of nerve hypertrophy (including nerve perimeter and surface area) among experimental and control pathologic specimens.

Results:

There exists a statistically significant increase in nerve perimeter (P = .001) and nerve surface area (P = .02) in supra‐arytenoid specimens in patients with severe laryngomalacia compared with age‐matched autopsy supra‐arytenoid tissue.

Conclusions:

The pathologic finding of nerve hypertrophy in children with laryngomalacia provides new evidence to support neurologic dysfunction as the etiologic theory of laryngomalacia. Laryngoscope, 2011