title: The prevalence of diabetes in a series of patients with subglottic stenosis.
abstract: Diabetes, which is present in 4 to 8% of adults in the United States, is a risk factor for surgical failure in laryngotracheal airway operations. We conducted a retrospective study to characterize a population of patients with subglottic stenosis-including the prevalence of diabetes, which has not been widely reported. We performed a retrospective chart review of 30 patients--22 women and 8 men, aged 17 to 77 years (mean: 47.5)--with subglottic stenosis who had presented to our facility between July 2001 and June 2004. Diabetes was present in 5 patients (16.7%); the prevalence of diabetes in our study was not significantly different from regional population-adjusted norms (8%). Although higher-grade stenosis was significantly more common in the diabetic patients than in the nondiabetic patients (p < 0.05), we were unable to conclude that diabetes plays an independent role in the development of subglottic stenosis. We intend to conduct a meta-analysis to assess the role that diabetes plays as both a risk factor for and an obstacle to the treatment of airway stenosis.
authors.affiliation: Division of Laryngology, Department of Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA. settema@siumed.edu
authors.forename: Sandra L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Ettema
authors.forename: Todd A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Loerhl
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Toohill
authors.forename: Albert L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Merati
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007829:Laryngostenosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence