Adult Supraglottitis (Epiglottitis)

Abstract

FEW diseases are as potentially tragic as supraglottitis (also termed epiglottitis). A healthy person can die of asphyxia from swollen tissues that are only a few millimeters from the direct view of a physician.¹ The paper in this issue of the fournal by MayoSmith et al.² focuses our attention on the fact that supraglottitis is not just a disease of children.Most of the supraglottic laryngeal and contiguous tissues, from the vallecula to the arytenoids, are usually involved by the infection in epiglottitis. In fact, the epiglottis can sometimes even be spared amid this general inflammation. The literature seldom refers . . .