Early detection of laryngeal cleft in infants by novel technique of
flexible endoscopy with sustained pharyngeal inflation
Abstract
Objective: Report a novel technique of flexible endoscopy (FE) with
noninvasive ventilation (NIV) and sustained pharyngeal inflation
(FE-NIV-SPI) in assessing aeroesophageal tracts (AET) to facilitate
early detect laryngeal clefts (LC). Methods: Medical charts and FE
videos of the children who were diagnosed as LC in a tertiary care
hospital between 2000 and 2020 were retrospectively reviewed and
analyzed. FE-NIV-SPI technique was applied for all the reviewed
children. Results: Of all the FE videos reviewed, twelve infants with
laryngeal clefts were collected. This equates to a prevalence of 0.28%
in all the children underwent FE at our institution. Their mean age was
5.0 ± 4.9 month-old and the mean body weight was 4.7 ± 2.3 kg. Nine
(75%) infants were referred in without LC diagnosis, which was missed
by 11 prior bronchoscopy and 5 computer tomography exams. With
FE-NIV-SPI, the pharyngolaryngeal space could be pneumatically expanded
and allowed detailed assessment. All LC types and coexisted AET lesions
were visualized at the first FE-NIV-SPI examination with a mean time of
4.2 ± 0.9 minutes. They were eight type I, two type II and one type III.
Ten (83.3%) infants coexisted airway malacia. Conclusion: Routinely
using the FE-NIV-SPI technique can help detect the LC defect and
associated AET lesions at the first assessment.