We would like to present another case from our foundation’s work. It is about Lia from Leipzig, who experienced acute respiratory distress at the age of two, which resulted in emergency hospitalization. The cause of the respiratory distress was laryngeal papillomatosis, a viral infection caused by the so-called papovavirus.
The virus was probably transmitted to the infant at birth. Since the disease develops in the area of the vocal folds in the majority of cases, a major accompanying symptom is chronic hoarseness, and in advanced cases, increasing shortness of breath. In Lia’s case, the entire larynx is affected and larger papillomas repeatedly form here, severely affecting the little girl’s quality of life.
Treatment
Lia is now four years old and has already had 28 operations: The therapy for laryngeal papillomatosis consists of microsurgical ablation of the papillomas with the help of a laser. The particular problem of laryngeal papillomatosis is its high recurrence rate. Despite exact surgical removal of these actually harmless formations, new papillomas are found again after a few months.
Forecast
Laryngeal papillomatosis usually disappears with the onset of puberty. A reaction and maturation of the immune system under hormonal influence is suspected. However, the situation is very stressful for Lia and her parents because they often have to travel to the special clinic of Prof. Dr. med. Thomas Nicolai in Munich to remove the papillomas under anesthesia (Fig. 1).
A normal life is not possible, because the girl must be constantly monitored – an enormous burden for the whole family.
Call
If you have experiences with your own patients or ideas on how to make Lia’s life easier, we would be happy to hear from you – including addresses of specialists. Please send your message to: foundation@orphanhealthcare.com
Thank you very much!
