Young child with recurrent stridor

Abstract

Stridor is a serious clinical sign that warrants immediate attention. We report a young child who presented with recurrent stridor. The diagnosis was confirmed by bronchoscopy, and computed tomography of the thorax showed that tracheal compression at the lower half portion with an anomalous left pulmonary artery arising from the right main pulmonary artery formed a 'sling' around the trachea (i.e. left pulmonary artery sling). She had two severe episodes of noisy respiration. The acute respiratory symptoms appeared because of oedema of the airway associated with infection and was aggravated by bronchial secretions. She underwent successful surgical correction of both lesions. Early diagnosis and expert management of airway problems can reduce morbidity and mortality of this potentially lethal clinical scenario. © Journal compilation © 2009 College of Surgeons of Hong Kong.