[Upper Airway Obstruction in a Type 4 Laryngeal Palmar in Infant]

Congenital malformations of the larynx in children are often manifested by laryngeal noise (stridor), dyspnea, dysphonia and sometimes swallowing disorders. Laryngomalacia is the most common anomaly, but it is necessary to know how to look for laryngeal paralysis, congenital subglottic stenosis, sometimes a subglottic angioma or a laryngeal diastema. Endoscopy is the master examination for confirming the diagnosis and guiding the management, which may be medical and/or surgical depending on the case [1].

Aim: The aim of our work is to study the diagnostic and therapeutic particularities of a congenital malformation in an infant in a context of insufficient materials.

We report an observation of an infant aged 06 months, who was referred to us from pediatrics for chronic dyspnea with dysphonia dating back to birth without other congenital anomalies after multiple treatments without improvement based on nebulization, corticoids and antibiotics. Nasofibroscopy revealed a laryngeal web-like larynx connecting the two vocal cords on its anterior two-thirds leaving a small respiratory tract (Figure 1). The diagnosis of laryngeal palmaris was retained. Management consisted of resection during panendoscopy. Nasofibroscopy at regular intervals of up to twelve months were performed without particularity.

Dyspnea in infants can be frequent and have many causes. Only a thorough clinical and paraclinical examination can help to diagnose laryngeal palmaris. They are confusing to all laryngeal malformations. The prognosis can be serious if management is not carried out as soon as possible.