Acute Epiglottitis

Abstract

Epiglottitis is a disease which is infrequent in occurrence but associated with a high mortality rate if not diagnosed correctly at the first examination. On the other hand, it is a disease which can be diagnosed very easily and quickly and which responds well to proper therapy. It is a very treacherous disease, as it may progress rapidly with few and seemingly unimportant symptoms until there is sudden and complete laryngeal obstruction with death occurring in a few minutes unless the obstruction is relieved immediately. In the past 15 years there have been several articles reporting this disease in children, but only 2 mentioned epiglottitis in adults.^1,2The following is a report of 8 cases of epiglottitis treated over a 6-year period and includes 4 children and 4 adults. <h3>Report of Cases</h3> Case1.—A white male aged 42 years was first seen in the office on Aug. 24, 1955,