Pediatric COVID-19 presenting as supraglottitis with vocal cord hypomobility

Meghana Nadiger; Manette Ness-Cochinwala; Carolina Sanchez-Vegas; Prithvi Sendi; Brian Ho; Balagangadhar R Totapally; Ramesh Sachdeva

doi:10.1177/2050313X21989465

Pediatric COVID-19 presenting as supraglottitis with vocal cord hypomobility

SAGE Open Med Case Rep. 2021 Feb 12:9:2050313X21989465. doi: 10.1177/2050313X21989465. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Meghana Nadiger^{1

2}, Manette Ness-Cochinwala^{1

2}, Carolina Sanchez-Vegas^{2

3}, Prithvi Sendi^{1

2}, Brian Ho⁴, Balagangadhar R Totapally^{1

2}, Ramesh Sachdeva^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Critical Care Medicine, Nicklaus Children's Hospital, Miami, FL, USA.
² Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA.
³ Division of Infectious Disease, Nicklaus Children's Hospital, Miami, FL, USA.
⁴ Division of Otolaryngology, Nicklaus Children's Hospital, Miami, FL, USA.

Abstract

In the United States, an estimated 7.3% of confirmed cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection (COVID-19) are among persons aged less than 18 years. Data regarding clinical manifestations in this age group are still evolving. An upper airway predilection has been reported in children. We describe the case of a 15-year-old female with supraglottitis and unilateral hypomobility of vocal cord with concern for critical airway, associated with COVID-19. She was managed by a multidisciplinary team including critical care, infectious diseases, and otolaryngology. This report adds to the sparse but evolving body of literature on the clinical presentation of COVID-19 disease in children.

Keywords: COVID-19; pediatric; supraglottitis; vocal cord hypomobility.

Publication types

Case Reports