January 15, 2013

Video of Epiglottitis

The normal epiglottis is a very thin flap of tissue that closes over the windpipe when swallowing preventing food/liquids from going down the wrong way. Shown by the blue arrow in the picture, when the epiglottis becomes infected, it can swell in size to even obstruct the airway leading to death by asphyxiation. Indeed, epiglottitis is what is thought to have killed our first President George Washington.

Fortunately, epiglottitis is quite rare ever since the introduction and regular use of the Hib vaccine in the 1980s. Although rare, it is a problem that still occurs intermittently even today. Each time I've encountered it in the past, I unfortunately was always in a situation whereby video recording of the endoscopic exam was not possible.

Until one day, a patient with epiglottitis did walk into my clinic and I WAS able to video-record the endoscopic exam.

Briefly, this patient developed a severe sore throat with difficulty swallowing that occurred suddenly over a 24 hour period of time. Patient reported the severe sore throat was localized to the base of tongue region.

Without further ado, here's the endoscopic examination both before treatment and then again 1 week later after a course of antibiotics and steroids.

Note the markedly swollen epiglottis before treatment. Even after treatment, the epiglottis is still mildly swollen though much improved. Normal is shown in the picture above.



In 2018, I encountered another patient I was able to video record the exam over 7 days.




Fauquier blog
Fauquier ENT

Dr. Christopher Chang is a private practice otolaryngology, head & neck surgeon specializing in the treatment of problems related to the ear, nose, and throat. Located in Warrenton, VA about 45 minutes west of Washington DC, he also provides inhalant allergy testing/treatment, hearing tests, and dispenses hearing aids.

You might be interested in reading...

  • Test That Distinguishes Between Bacterial or Viral Infections
    07/27/2011 - 0 Comments
    From the pages of CSI: Miami... a commonly used forensic chemical called luminol to identify traces of…
  • Explore Flu Trends Across the US
    11/17/2008 - 0 Comments
    Google has discovered that certain spikes in search terms related to flu symptoms actually is a great…
  • Vocal Ranges of Famous Singers Past and Present
    05/29/2014 - 0 Comments
    Concert Hotels has put together a nifty interactive chart documenting the vocal ranges of famous singers past…
  • New Video on Sinusitis and Sinus Surgery Explained (Balloon Sinuplasty and Endoscopic Sinus Surgery)
    02/20/2016 - 0 Comments
    A new video has been uploaded to YouTube that explains how sinus infections occur as well as how…
  • 10 Different Sleep Apnea Surgeries Video
    12/12/2019 - 0 Comments
    This animation quickly goes through 10 different surgical techniques to treat obstructive sleep apnea…
  • Can a Deviated Septum Cause Facial Pain?
    07/28/2011 - 0 Comments
    Yes... There is a phenomenon caused Sluder's Neuralgia whereby a patient may suffer fairly severe pain over…
  • NYT: Blowing the Nose May Actually Make You Sicker???
    01/07/2010 - 0 Comments
    On February 9, 2009, the New York Times published an interesting story regarding what happens if you blow…
  • The Perfect Nasal Bulb Suction and Aspirator for Infants and Small Children
    04/20/2009 - 0 Comments
    Regardless of the cause of a snotty nose in a young child, it is recommended that parents use a saline spray…

Banner Map

Pediatric Neck Masses

Adult Neck Mass Workup