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.