A solitary supraglottic neurofibroma presenting with obstructive sleep apnea in an adolescent

Abstract

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is commonly encountered in the pediatric population and has a large differential diagnosis. As clinicians, we must determine who needs to undergo flexible laryngoscopy to rule out potential obstructing lesions causing OSA. This report presents a 16-year-old female who presented with snoring, “asthma,” dysphagia, and OSA. Flexible laryngoscopy and computed tomography revealed a neurofibroma of the aryepiglottic fold without associated neurofibromatosis type 1. The patient underwent microlaryngoscopy and the lesion was excised using cold steel and a carbon dioxide laser. At 6 months' followup, the patient was breathing without difficulty and had no evidence of recurrence. Solitary laryngeal neurofibromas are extremely rare, and this is the first case of an adolescent with OSA caused by a solitary supraglottic neurofibroma. A supraglottic mass needs to be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients with OSA who fail conservative treatment, even a diagnosis as rare as a solitary laryngeal neurofibroma.