title: Cleft larynx: management and one-stage surgical repair by anterior translaryngotracheal approach in two children.
abstract: Cleft larynx is a rare congenital anomaly which is now being reported with increasing frequency. It is characterized by a midline posterior defect. Two children underwent laryngeal cleft repair by an anterior translaryngeal approach. Tracheotomy was avoided and closure of the anterior laryngofissure was carried out over the nasotracheal tube. The patients were cared for in a pediatric intensive care unit until extubation. Extubation was performed on day 8. The older child had few functional problems and did well whereas the younger child did poorly. In this latter case, the initially successful surgical result was impaired by post-operative aspiration, due to numerous possible factors: gastroesophageal reflux secondarily controlled by Nissen fundoplication, disturbed swallowing as a result more of the cleft repair work than of the surgical approach, or else immaturity of the suction-swallowing reflex.
authors.affiliation: Département d'Oto-Rhino-Laryngologie, de chirurgie cervico-faciale et de phoniatrie, Hopital E. Herriot, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Froehlich
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Truy
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Stamm
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morgon
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Floret
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Chappuis
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D003413:Cricoid Cartilage / Q000002:abnormalities; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007821:Laryngeal Muscles / Q000002:abnormalities; D007830:Larynx / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D012131:Respiratory Insufficiency / Q000209:etiology; D014132:Trachea / Q000601:surgery