Symptoms and Treatment of Acute Epiglottitis: A Statistical Survey of 107 Cases

One hundred seven cases of acute epiglottitis in Kitasato University Hospital over 21 years (1971-1991) were reviewed. Fifteen of these required intubation or tracheostomy to keep the air way open. The clinical features of all these cases, and especially the cases which had been treated for air way preservation, were reported. Edematous swelling of the epiglottis, arytenoid and aryepiglottic fold revealed by indirect laryngoscopy in these cases were classified as follows: swelling of the epiglottis in three grades, high in cases with invisible vocal cords, low in cases with visible vocal cords, and moderate in intermediate cases and swelling in the arytenoid and aryepiglottic fold in two grades (positive and negative). Dyspnea usually appears in patients with swelling of the high grade in the epiglottis, or with swelling of the arytenoid or aryepiglottic fold