Background
The congenital laryngeal web is a rare form of clinical laryngeal malformation, which was first proposed by Fleischmann in 1882. This condition is formed by the growth of abnormal tissues in the glottic portion of the larynx and accounts for approximately 5%[1] of congenital structural malformations of the larynx. At 8-10 weeks of gestation, the congenital laryngeal web is generally associated with embryonic developmental disorders that may occur alone or with other clinical syndromes, such as 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. The clinical manifestations of this condition may differ, depending on the degree of involvement of the laryngeal tissues and the degree of obstruction in the trachea.
Patients with congenital laryngeal webs clinically present with vocal disturbances, hoarseness, wheezing, or breathlessness. This condition is most commonly found in the anterior coalition of the vocal folds and often combined with stenosis below the glottis. In 1985, Cohen[2] proposed a typology for the congenital laryngeal web, which included the following types: i) type I, a thin, membranous laryngeal web involving <35% of the vocal folds; ii) type II, laryngeal web tissues involving 35%-50% of the glottic portion; iii) type III, laryngeal web tissues comprising 50%-75% of the glottic portion and involving the lower glottic portion; and iv) type IV, laryngeal web tissues involving more than 75% of the glottic portion and completely blocking the glottis.