Injection augmentation of type I laryngeal clefts

To describe a series of children diagnosed with type I congenital laryngeal clefts (LC-I) and treated, due to various presentations, with endoscopic injection augmentation (IA).

Case series with chart review.

Tertiary care academic children's hospital in Edmonton, Canada.

All pediatric patients diagnosed with LC-I and treated with IA in a single tertiary care practice.

The children were identified from a prospectively collected database. Only those who were treated with IA and had a minimum follow-up of 3 months were included. The authors collected demographics, diagnoses, surgical procedures, number of IA procedures, clinical outcomes, and complications.

Over a period of 8 years, 43 patients were diagnosed with LC-I. Eighteen had undergone IA over the past 4 years. Mean age at IA was 37.11 ± 32.68 months with a male-to-female ratio of 1.25:1. The indications were swallowing dysfunction (13), atypical croup (2), chronic cough (1), cyanotic spells (1), and asthma (1). Seven patients required repeated injections (mean, 2.57 injections). A total of 13 patients responded with resolution of symptoms in question. A single postoperative complication was recorded.

IA is a brief, simple management option that succeeds in a number of children with LC-I. It is minimally morbid and supplements other conservative approaches to treat the condition.