Acute upper airway obstruction resulting from systemic diseases.

Acute upper airway obstruction is usually associated with inflammatory processes such as epiglottitis, and with laryngeal trauma and laryngeal tumors. Not uncommonly, systemic diseases such as Wegener's granulomatosis and sarcoidosis may manifest initially as upper airway obstruction requiring intubation or tracheostomy. We describe our experience in the diagnosis and management of cases of airway obstruction due to previously undiagnosed systemic diseases. We believe that physicians should be familiar with the airway manifestations of these systemic diseases when treating patients with airway distress of apparently unknown cause.