Multipathogenic necrotising supraglottitis in an immunocompetent patient

Abstract

Supraglottitis is a potentially life-threatening condition. It is now uncommon due to the Haemophilus influenza type B vaccination and is more recently caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, S. pyogenes, H. influenza non-type B, H. parainfluenzae, Staphylococcus aureus and Pasteurella multocida. Very rarely, it can cause necrotising supraglottitis/epiglottitis, and this has been reported in immunocompromised individuals. We present a unique case of multipathogenic supraglottitis causing laryngeal fibrinoid necrosis in an immunocompetent patient. During his admission, the patient was critically unwell and required surgical intervention and tracheostomy. However, he made a full recovery with no persisting morbidity. We believe that this was owed to the aggressive antimicrobial therapy, timely surgical management of the disease process and the patients immunocompetency.