Two Cases of Post-intubation Laryngotracheal Stenosis Occurring after Severe COVID-19
Maki Miwa, Mikio Nakajima, Richard H. Kaszynski, Syoichiro Hamada, Tomotsugu Nakano, Masamitsu Shirokawa, Hideaki Goto, Yoshihiro Yamaguchi
Abstract
We experienced two cases of post-intubation laryngotracheal stenosis (PILS) occurring in patients after acute coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 in a relatively narrow time period. The patients required mechanical ventilation for 9 days in one and 28 days in the other. In both cases, the patients were discharged but later developed symptoms of cough and dyspnea, which were later diagnosed as PILS. Persistent cough and dyspnea are common symptoms in both PILS and the recovery phase of severe COVID-19. For this reason, PILS should be considered in the differential diagnosis post-COVID-19 patients. In addition, the prevalence of PILS may be greater than that of other critical diseases in severe COVID-19 patients.