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When should a laryngeal cleft be repaired?
If a child continues with aspiration or breathing concerns, the doctor will discuss what care options or surgeries are best for the child. Surgery for this condition is called a laryngeal cleft repair. It is required for patients with types II, III or IV.
What is a laryngeal cleft?
A laryngeal cleft (or laryngotracheal cleft) is an abnormal opening between the larynx and the esophagus through which food and liquid can pass through the larynx into the lungs. This causes a number of eating and breathing problems.
Is a laryngeal cleft a birth defect?
A laryngeal cleft is a rare congenital defect (present at birth). It can happen on its own, with other malformations or as part of an underlying syndrome such as: Opitz-Frias. VACTERL.
What is Type 4 laryngeal cleft?
Type 4 is a severe defect below the vocal cords and extends into the chest. Patients will have severe symptoms, and this type requires open-neck surgery.
How is laryngeal cleft treated?
Laryngeal cleft is most often treated with surgery to close the opening in the larynx, or voice box. For more information or to schedule an appointment with a pediatric otolaryngologist, call 314.454. 5437 or 800.678.
How long does a laryngeal cleft injection last?
The filler lasts for up to 3-6 months and often after this time the child has re-learned the proper way to swallow or has grown out of this problem. Not all children respond to this treatment and may require a bigger surgery.
Is laryngeal cleft serious?
A laryngeal cleft creates an opening between the larynx and the esophagus which can cause a danger of food and liquid going into the airway tube when a child swallows. Eating and breathing problems can be a result of this condition.
How long is laryngeal cleft surgery?
For patients with more severe or bothersome symptoms, we often do minimally invasive repair through the mouth. This takes 25–30 minutes in most children.
Is a laryngeal cleft hereditary?
We evaluated data at our institution over a 10-year period and identified 19 patients from 8 families demonstrating familial occurrence of laryngeal cleft. Six (75%) families had two affected siblings, one family (12.5%) had three affected siblings, and one family (12.5%) had four affected siblings.
How is laryngeal cleft repaired?
SURGICAL REPAIR: For children with deeper clefts, who have not benefitted from injection or who have benefitted from injection but now the injection has dissolved we can perform a permanent repair. This surgery requires the child to have stitches placed behind their voice-box to permanently close the separation.
Can laryngomalacia come back after surgery?
We considered a “recurrence” to be the reappearance of symptoms of severe laryngomalacia (ie, chronic dyspnea and/or failure to thrive with growth retardation and/or obstructive sleep apnea) 4 weeks or more after surgery in children initially free of these symptoms after postsurgical healing of the mucosa.