Clinical characteristics and surgical outcomes in children with congenital laryngeal clefts.

Authors

Yang Yang, Xinye Tang, Zhihai Zhang, Ling Ding, Yanling Peng, Ling Xiao

Published in

European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery. Jul 19, 2026. Epub Jul 19, 2026.

Abstract

To characterize the clinical profile of congenital laryngeal clefts (CLCs) and to assess the outcomes of surgical repair in affected children.
A retrospective review was conducted on pediatric patients (0-18 years) diagnosed with CLC and treated at our hospital between June 2019 and June 2025. Collected variables included demographic characteristics, presenting symptoms, cleft classification, comorbidities, surgical approach, and postoperative follow-up outcomes.
A total of 82 patients were included, with a male-to-female ratio of 1.41:1. Infants aged 6-12 months represented the largest subgroup (37.80%). The predominant presenting symptom was choking on feeds/fluids (71.95%). Type I clefts were most common (76.83%), and the leading comorbidity was synchronous airway lesions (39.02%). All patients underwent endoscopic laryngeal cleft repair, achieving an overall success rate of 95.12%. When comparing methods of freshening cleft margins in Type I clefts, use of the Nd: YAG laser was associated with shorter operative duration and reduced intraoperative bleeding compared to conventional laryngeal forceps/scalpel techniques (P < 0.05). However, postoperative edema resolution times did not differ significantly (P > 0.05).
The most frequent manifestation of CLC is choking on feeds/fluids, with Type I being the predominant form, which is often accompanied by various medical complications. Endoscopic laryngeal cleft repair demonstrates excellent efficacy. The Nd: YAG laser, with its minimally invasive nature and advantage of reduced intraoperative bleeding, represents a valuable tool for clinical application in CLC repair.

PMID:
42472953
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 20 Jul 2026.

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