We reported a case of inspiratory dyspnea due to epiglottal prolapse that developed when the patient was 14 years old. This condition is very rare in adolescence and there are no published reports involving patients less than 20 years old. There was neither a history of head and neck surgery, nor any head injury or coma. On laryngofiberscopy, there were no abnormal findings.
However, prolapse of the epiglottis during inspiration was noted when constrained respiration occurred with the cervix in a lordotic posision. The diagnosis was acquired laryngomalacia. A partial epiglottectomy (half) with a CO2 laser improved the respiratory condition, but the cause of the laryngomalacia was not pathologically clarified.
