Pediatric postcricoid vascular malformation: A diagnostic and treatment challenge

Hemangioma of the upper aerodigestive tract is a rarely reported occurrence in the pediatric literature. To date, there have been three published case reports of postcricoid hemangiomas contributing to unexplained dysphagia and respiratory distress. We present three children with a history of swallowing difficulty and stridor who were found to have an occult postcricoid mass. Valsalva maneuvers confirmed the suspicion of a vascular malformation in both patients. Transoral laser therapy (KTP and CO2) was used to ablate the lesions. The patients are symptom-free at 5 months, 5 years, and 2 weeks, respectively. The diagnostic challenge in evaluating these children and the therapeutic choices are described.