A new classification scheme for laryngomalacia

To propose a novel classification method for assessing the severity of laryngomalacia (LM).

During a three-year period, all paediatric patients diagnosed with laryngomalacia were included. A disease-specific questionnaire consisting of eleven questions with four possible responses was administered to gather patient information, and a scoring system was utilized to classify the severity of their condition based on medical history and examination findings. Patients were assigned to two groups: group 1 included those having LM with no or mild co morbidities, group 2 included patients with severe co morbidities. Group 1 was further subdivided into three subgroups based on symptom scores [ (1a) with a score of 1-11, (1b) with a score of 12-22, and (1c) with a score of 23-33].

The study enrolled a total of fifty participants. Five individuals with laryngomalacia and severe comorbidities were placed in group 2, while the remaining forty-five participants were assigned to group 1. Initial assessment revealed that thirty-five participants were categorized in subgroup 1c and 10 in subgroup 1b. Individuals in subgroup 1c underwent supraglottoplasty and demonstrated an average 25% reduction in symptom scores at 6 weeks post-surgery.

A severity-based classification system is proposed, and a management strategy is presented for laryngomalacia.