Acquired paediatric subglottic cysts: a series from Manchester

Subglottic cysts (SGC) have long been regarded as a rare cause of airway obstruction but through increased awareness an increase in the number of cases of SGC has been reported.

This paper describes the pathogenesis and management of SGC.

Retrospective case series. Ethical approval not sought.

Royal Manchester Children's Hospital.

Two hundred and six new referrals for direct laryngotracheobronchoscopy (DLTB) were identified from records between September 2003 and September 2005.

Age at birth, sex, length of intubation, presenting symptoms, age at presentation, DLTB findings, interventional procedures, and follow-up DLTBs.

Fourteen out of 206 (6.8%) infants were diagnosed as with subglottic cysts. This represented the fourth most common cause of upper airway pathology. Thirteen out of 14 (93%) infants were preterm (26.8 weeks S.D. 25.3-28.3 weeks). All infants had been intubated ranging from 1 to 180 days (median 42 days). The onset of symptoms ranged from 1 to 13 months (median 4.25 months). Initially, 8/14 (57.2%) infants had SGC cysts marsupialised with microforceps. A further six cysts (50%) were decapped between 2 and 4 months and one between 6 and 12 months.

The number of cases of SGC has been increasing over the last three decades and represents the fourth most common causes of airway obstruction in our series. There is a delay in onset of symptoms and high rate of recurrence in the first 4 months. It is therefore prudent to reschedule further endoscopic evaluation between 2 and 4 months and after 6 months should the clinical need arise.