Laryngeal clefts: a review of current literature

Abstract

Laryngeal clefts as exceptionally rare congenital anomalies have been reported more and more recently. The clinical symptoms and presentations base on degree of clefts and variety of comorbidities. Mild types of clefts may have minimal clinical impact, whereas severe types may be life-threatening and even lead to death before diagnosis. With more attention of these anomalies and advances in endoscopy, the diagnosis, evaluation and surgery of laryngeal clefts have acquired great improvement, especially International Pediatric Otolaryngology Group(IPOG)have reported consensus guidelines on the diagnosis and management of type Ⅰ laryngeal clefts in 2017. This review of laryngeal clefts may be beneficial to decrease missed diagnosis or misdiagnosis and to achieve individual-based treatment.