An Acquired Anterior Glottic Web Model by Heat Injury with a Laryngoscopic Approach in a Rabbit

Acquired anterior glottic webs (AGW) can lead to abnormally elevated phonatory pitch, dysphonia, and airway obstruction requiring urgent intervention. In this study, we construct a novel AGW rabbit model using heat injury by a laryngoscopic way. A primary study was conducted to identify the injury depth in rabbits' vocal folds (VFs) by graded heat energy, and the heat energy for the incurrence of epithelial layer, lamina propria, and muscular layer (ML) injury was 25, 30 and 35 W, respectively. Then, four different models were designed based on the depth and degree of the injury to determine the optimal procedure for AGW formation. Morphological features, vibratory capacity, and histopathologic features of the AGW were correspondingly evaluated. The procedure for conferring the heat injury to the depth of ML and the extent of anterior commissure and middle part of bilateral VFs showed the highest success rate of AGW formation (95%, 19/20). For its low cost, effectiveness, and stability for AGW formation, the heat injury rabbit model with a laryngoscopic approach may provide a new platform for testing novel anti-adhesion materials and bioengineered therapies. Impact Statement Tissue engineering based on biomaterials has been a very hot research field and may be introduced to prevent the acquired anterior glottic web (AGW) formation. However, lacking a widely recognized animal model for AGW has limited the trial of anti-adhesion materials in the larynx. In this study, we have developed a novel rabbit model for AGW formation by conferring a heat injury under a laryngoscope; this model is cheap, effective, and stable for the anti-adhesion materials and bioengineered therapies. Thus, this research would arouse crucial interest and be widely employed.