Heredity of supraglottic exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction. Issue 2 (17th August 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Walsted, Emil Schwarz; Hvedstrup, Jeppe; Eiberg, Hans; Backer, Vibeke
• Is Part Of: European respiratory journal. Volume 50:Issue 2(2017)
• Publication Date: 2017-08-17
• Subjects: Respiratory organs -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Respiration -- Periodicals; 616.2
• DOI: 10.1183/13993003.00423-2017
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0903-1936

Abstract

Respiratory symptoms on exertion, such as shortness of breath and wheezing, are commonly associated with asthma, but might also arise from the larynx [1–3]. In recent years, the emergence of exercise laryngoscopy [4] has led to a better understanding of laryngeal movement during exercise, and inspiratory supraglottic collapse on exertion has been established as a common cause of exertional breathlessness [5] that is correlated with exercise intensity [6]. Both glottic and supraglottic inspiratory closure are more commonly seen in females and most often in adolescents or young adults [7–11]. This predominance has yet to be explained; however, gender differences in larynx size/growth and consequently higher "Bernoulli forces" in females for a given respiratory demand could be a contributing factor [5]. Thus, an inherited disorder affecting laryngeal growth could also explain why the condition usually presents in adolescence [12, 13]. A recent study by Hilland and colleagues [14] describing an association between congenital laryngomalacia and (mainly supraglottic) laryngeal closure in adolescence, points out a likely predisposition for supraglottic exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction (EILO), whereas case studies have demonstrated that congenital laryngomalacia can be inherited [15, 16]. Supraglottic EILO could be inherited. Different modes of inheritance can explain the results of this study. http://ow.ly/5XAv30csDRa