Objective Criteria for Radiologic Diagnosis of Epiglottitis in Korean Adults

Min,  Young Gi; Jung,  Yoon Seok; Yoon,  Sang Kyu; Park,  In Cheol; Cho,  Joon Pil

J Korean Soc Emerg Med > Volume 11(3); 2000 > Article

Original Article

Journal of The Korean Society of Emergency Medicine 2000;11(3): 321-324.

Objective Criteria for Radiologic Diagnosis of Epiglottitis in Korean Adults

Young Gi Min, Yoon Seok Jung, Sang Kyu Yoon, In Cheol Park, Joon Pil Cho

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUNDs: A retrospective study was performed to define objective radiologic parameters in diagnosing epiglottitis on soft-tissue lateral neck radiographic study.
METHODS:
Parameters of soft-tissue structures(epiglottis width, third vertebral body width, ratio of epiglottic width to third vertebral body width) in 30 adult patients compared with those of age and sex-matched controls with foreign body in throat whose radiographic reading was normal.
RESULTS:
Epiglottis width of more than 11mm, ratio of epiglottis width(EW) to the third vertebral body width(C3W) of more than 0.5 were, respectively, found to be 100% sensitive and specific in differentiating between patients with and without epiglottitis.
CONCLUSION:
These preliminary results suggest that EW/C3W ratio of more than 0.5, EW of more than 11mm, respectively, may be useful in the diagnosis of epiglottitis in adult patients.