Subglottic enlargement using cartilage-mucosa autograft. A preliminary experimental study.
Subglottic stenosis in the infant currently has no well-accepted surgical correction. Our experimental study was designed to determine the effectiveness of a nasal septal cartilage-mucosa autograft in increasing the subglottic circumference and its effect on subsequent subglottic growth. Six pairs of matched mongrel puppy litter mates were used; one underwent surgery, the other served as a control. The cricoid and first tracheal rings were split anteriorly, and widened 5 mm to accept an autogenous nasal septal cartilage-mucosa graft. All animals were killed after six months of postoperative growth. The autografts appeared to be partially or completely replaced by fibrous tissue but a persistent enlargement in the subglottic airway was found in the animals that underwent surgery, with glottic measurements the same in both groups. Thus, a septal cartilage autograft to the subglottic larynx in puppies appears to result in persistent enlargement of the subglottic area, but produces no interference with subsequent normal laryngeal growth and development.
D000818:Animals; D002356:Cartilage / Q000637:transplantation*; D004285:Dogs; D005931:Glottis / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007818:Laryngeal Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D016038:Skin Transplantation; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous / Q000379:methods*