Ji. De Diego et al., Graft-vs-host disease as a cause of enlargement of the epiglottis in an immunocompromised child, ARCH OTOLAR, 127(4), 2001, pp. 439-441
We report a rare case of dyspnea due to enlargement of the epiglottis in a
severely immunocompromised patient. The child underwent a previous tracheos
tomy at another hospital because of respiratory distress under the diagnosi
s of acute epiglottitis. The patient was subsequently decannulated without
incident. One year later, the child developed a new episode of dyspnea with
inspiratory strider. A new tracheostomy was neccessary, and a biopsy speci
men of the enlarged epiglottis was taken to confirm the diagnosis of graft-
vs-host disease. The therapeutic measures in these situations are discussed
below, and a review Of the current literature concerning the etiology and
management of epiglottic enlargement is performed.