A simple and reliable predictor for an adequate laryngeal view with rigid endoscopic laryngoscopy.
OBJECTIVE
It is sometimes impossible to obtain an adequate laryngeal view during rigid endoscopic laryngoscopy. This may be due to a high tongue base. Our study seeks to determine a correlation between tongue base level and the adequacy of laryngeal view obtained with a 70-degree rigid endoscope.


METHODS
Over a period of 4 months, patients from a voice clinic were gathered and categorized into class I to III according to Mallampati et al (1985). Rigid laryngo-videostroboscopy was conducted to assess the larynx and the adequacy of the view was recorded.


RESULTS
74 patients were recruited. The number of adequate views were: class I = 18/20 (90%); class II = 20/33 (60.6%); class III = 7/21 (33.3%). chi 2 analysis demonstrated significance trend in all 3 classes.


CONCLUSIONS
The level of the tongue base correlated well with the adequacy of laryngeal view obtained from a 70-degree rigid endoscope. This can be used to predict the success of obtaining adequate views during rigid laryngoscopy.
Low
Christopher
C
ENT Department, Royal Liverpool University Hospital, United Kingdom. c.low1@btinternet.com
Young
Pam
P
Webb
Christopher J
CJ
Walshe
Peter
P
Hone
Stephen
S
Panarese
Alessandro
A
McCormick
Maxwell S
MS
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020704:Laryngoscopes; D007828:Laryngoscopy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009960:Oropharynx / Q000473:pathology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D049489:Stroboscopy; D014059:Tongue / Q000473:pathology*