[The role of the bacterial inflammation in subglottic laryngitis in children].

The aim of this study is to assess the impact of some selected bacteriological factors on the occurrence of subglottic laryngitis in children. The research covered 72 children hospitalized in the Children's Hospital in Warsaw with the following symptoms: dry barking cough, stridor, inspiratory dyspnoea with the participation of auxiliary respiratory muscles, agitation and change of colour of skin. Subglottic laryngitis is one of the acute children's diseases, directly caused by a violently growing odema of the subglottic area. The disease constitutes 5-8% of all severe airways inflammations and states that subglottic laryngitis is responsible for 6.5% off all lower airways inflammation cases. Based on preliminary examinations, the patients were divided into two groups--one of them composed of 41 patients with simultaneous atopy, the other--of 31 patients with no atopy symptoms. The examination of each patient included subjective, objective (pediatric and laryngological) and auxiliary (primary-blood cell count, OB and specialized-bacteriological tests) examinations. Own research showed that out of 72 patients with subglottic laryngitis 56.95% had bacterial symptoms. 90.32% in non atopic group have higher NBT test, in atopic children it was 39.02%. We observed that 50.51% of the patients suffering from subglottic laryngitis had an inflammation of upper airways (otitis media, rhinitis, pharyngitis) and 13.89% of lower respiratory tract (bronchitis, pneumonitis). Many authors incline to say that bacteria may be a conductive factor for subglottic laryngitis to develop. However, many factors seem to suggest that the occurrence and symptoms of subglottic laryngitis are primarily caused by the reaction to an infection. The impact of bacteria onto the etiopathogenesis of subglottic laryngitis has been discussed for many years. Some experts are of the opinion that the disease develops on the bacteriologic background.