Airway Obstruction in Children with COVID-19 Presenting with Stridor

Abstract

We report three cases who presented with symptoms of upper airway obstruction that were secondary to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. These children showed no signs of lung parenchymal involvement initially. Our first patient presented with stridor with significant upper airway obstruction and respiratory failure and required emergency intubation followed by tracheostomy. The second child presenting as croup had only partial response to dexamethasone and adrenaline. The third child, who had presented with airway obstruction turned out to have a retropharyngeal collection, was found to be infected with SARS-CoV-2 on RT-PCR from a nasopharyngeal swab. Our cases represent the new presentation of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in pediatric patients.

Keywords

• airway obstruction in covid-19
• case report covid-19-associated tracheitis
• pediatric covid-19