Glottic Stenosis

Excerpt

Glottic stenosis describes a fixed narrowing of the upper airway at the level of the glottis. The glottis is the portion of the larynx containing the vocal cords and the glottic opening. Anatomically, the glottis is the part of the larynx extending from the junction between the true and false vocal cords at the apex of the laryngeal ventricle to a line one centimeter below the inferior aspect of the vocal cords. The anterior two-thirds of the glottis is the glottis vocalis, while the posterior third is known as the respiratory glottis. Glottic stenosis is part of a broader pathology, laryngeal stenosis, which can be glottic, supraglottic, or subglottic. It can be congenital or acquired, and its management is complex, as it requires airway, voice, and laryngeal competence preservation.