Laser division of the aryepiglottic folds for severe laryngomalacia.

Laryngomalacia is an entity of ill-defined etiology. The clinical situation is one of inspiratory stridor present at birth, or within the newborn period. The stridor may increase in severity for the first several months of life and thereafter spontaneously begins to resolve. In the majority of cases the condition resolves spontaneously by approximately two years of age. This report will present the surgical management of severe laryngomalacia in infants using the carbon dioxide laser to surgically divide the aryepiglottic fold with resolution of the laryngomalacia.