Long-Range Optical Coherence Tomography of the Neonatal Upper Airway for Early Diagnosis of Intubation-related Subglottic Injury
Rationale: Subglottic edema and acquired subglottic stenosis are potentially airway-compromising sequelae in neonates following endotracheal intubation. At present, no imaging modality is capable of in vivo diagnosis of subepithelial airway wall pathology as signs of intubation-related injury. Objectives: To use Fourier domain long-range optical coherence tomography (LR-OCT) to acquire micrometer-resolution images of the airway wall of intubated neonates in a neonatal intensive care unit setting and to analyze images for histopathology and airway wall thickness. Methods: LR-OCT of the neonatal laryngotracheal airway was performed a total of 94 times on 72 subjects (age, 1–175 d; total intubation, 1–104 ...
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