Sudden airway obstruction due to a benign hemangioendothelioma of the larynx.

Sudden airway obstruction can be caused by laryngeal impaction of pedunculated tumors in the upper aerodigestive tract. We experienced a case of sudden airway obstruction due to a rare benign hemangioendothelioma of the larynx in a 13-year-old male. Emergency tracheotomy was performed and the tumor was removed using direct laryngoscopy. Pathologically, the reticulum stain showed that the proliferating cells were inside the capillary sheaths. The usefulness of the reticulum stain was stressed for pathological diagnosis of hemangioendothelioma.