A Misdiagnosed Laryngeal Web: Treated with an Innovative Self-Made Keel

Abstract

Laryngeal web is a rare congenital anomaly. Late presentation at the age of 10 years as in our case, with misleading diagnosis of asthma in a Cohen’s type III glottic web is even rarer. In cases of congenital laryngeal web the aim is to provide a patent airway and to achieve a good voice quality. Regardless of the technique used; the primary concern is recurrence. Traditionally, the treatment of choice for laryngeal web was laryngofissure with placement of a keel however; endoscopic laser excision of the web with keel placement is now the preferred technique for thin anterior glottic webs. This endoscopic technique not only requires a Lichtenberger needle carrier but also the ready-made keel, which many of the government set-ups in our country cannot provide. For an alternative to this problem, we have described an innovative, minimally invasive technique for placement of a self-made silicone keel without any sophisticated instruments.

Keywords

• endoscopy
• glottic web
• laryngoscopy
• voice quality