[Congenital laryngeal membrane. Apropos of 2 case reports]

Two observations of congenital partial atresia of the larynx are studied. They thus illustrate the diagnostic and therapeutic difficulties with which the clinician is faced. A rare malformation (one out of a million births), sometimes in the same family (3,6%) the congenital partial atresia of the larynx presents a wide anatomical variety and consecutively a wide clinical variety. Diagnosis is always confirmed by endoscopy. Treatment uses either continuous gauging of the larynx (or discontinuous) with tracheotomy or surgery. It is at present impossible to define formally any therapeutic; nevertheless exhaustive study of the literature, and the progress of micro-surgery (with the contribution of the laser) should allow the therapy to be specified on the basis of the anatomy, the age and the degree to which the malformation is tolerated.