[Two cases of flaccid epiglottis].

We had two adult cases of flaccid epiglottis. Flaccid epiglottis in adults is quite rare, and it is sometimes misdiagnosed and mistreated. Particularly, it is likely to be treated as an asthma attack, and is often confused with a paradoxical vocal cord movement. Patients are frequently seen with dyspnea owing to upper airway obstruction, with misdiagnosis, and tend to be overtreated with emergency intubation or tracheostomy after failed attempts at ventilation. We had two such difficult cases. The first case is seen with sudden dyspnea after extubation in the I.C.U, and the second had a trouble for ventilation with a difficulty in discriminating asthma and other disease. However, it is quite safe to ventilate sufficiently with appropriate diagnosis.