Professor Baylor Clg of Med Houston, TX, United States
Disclosure(s):
Gabrielle L. Wolter, MD: No relevant relationships to disclose.
Julina Ongkasuwan, MD: No relevant relationships to disclose.
Introduction: Anterior glottic webs involve scarring at the anterior commissure of the vocal folds and can be congenital or acquired secondary to laryngeal trauma. Patients often present with dysphonia but can present with respiratory distress. Varied approaches, both endoscopic and open, are employed to manage anterior glottic webs, however the condition still shows high rates of recurrence. The objective of this presentation is to describe a minimally invasive method to manage anterior glottic webs using balloon dilation
Methods: Patients with either congenital or acquired anterior glottic webs that underwent balloon dilation were identified and operative and clinic notes were reviewed.
Results: Four patients at our institution have been managed with this technique. Two patients have RRP-related webs and two have 22q deletion syndrome-related webs. The 22q patients required 3 and 4 treatments respectively with an average of 6.2 days between treatments with no recurrence of symptoms noted at follow up of 18 months and 6 months, respectively. The RRP patients have both had mucosal rotational flaps in the past with recurrence of web. Since being treated with balloon dilation, they have required 9 and 2 treatments, respectively. The first patient has an average of 76.9 days between procedures and is still undergoing regular procedures. The second patient was last treated 7 months ago and is doing well with no further web noted.
Conclusions: Balloon dilation is a minimally invasive procedure that addresses both acquired and congenital anterior glottic webs without inducing trauma leading to new scarring
